Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who was seriously injured in an alleged attack by his co-pilot on a flydubai flight last month, has recalled fearing for his life during the incident, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Machchhar said he repeatedly lost consciousness after being struck on the back of his head in the cockpit. The flight, carrying more than 170 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv, later landed safely in Saudi Arabia after others on board restrained the alleged attacker.
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“There was a moment that I realised and I told myself that ‘Smit, do something. You can’t die like this’,” Machchhar told Sky News Arabia. Excerpts from the interview, filmed while he was in a hospital bed in the UAE, were shared on the news channel’s social media accounts on Saturday.
Machchhar said he was checking his computer in the cockpit when he was struck. “Later on in the event, I was in and out of consciousness frequently,” he said.
He also praised the colleague who took control of the aircraft during the emergency, describing his actions as commendable and saying he would remember them for the rest of his life.
In a separate interview with UAE-based news organisation The National, Machchhar said his survival instinct helped him respond. “It was like a survival instinct, which kicked in, and thankfully it did for me and all my other passengers and colleagues,” he said. Excerpts from this interview were also shared on social media on Saturday.
The incident took place on September 30 aboard flydubai flight FZ1073. The Omani co-pilot allegedly attacked Machchhar in the cockpit with an emergency crash axe and attempted to seize control of the aircraft, PTI reported.
According to the UAE attorney general, investigators found that the co-pilot had planned to take control of the aircraft and crash it into the passenger terminal at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv in a suicide attack. The investigation is continuing.
Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, allowing another pilot, cabin crew members and passengers to intervene and restrain the alleged attacker. Other pilots on board took control of the aircraft and diverted it to Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely.
The Omani co-pilot was taken into custody. Machchhar was initially treated at a hospital in Tabuk before being transferred to Abu Dhabi, where he is recovering. The Indian Embassy said on October 6 that he was making “steady progress” and “regaining his health”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have praised Machchhar’s courage and described him as a hero. The full interviews with Sky News Arabia and The National were scheduled to be broadcast at 9 pm Abu Dhabi time, or 10.30 pm IST, on Saturday.
Machchhar’s account details how he fought to remain conscious and helped open the cockpit during the alleged attack, enabling those on board to restrain the co-pilot and land the aircraft safely.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
