Netanyahu calls FlyDubai pilot a hero after cockpit attack
In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, October 3, FlyDubai Captain Smit Machchhar described how his co-pilot attacked him mid-flight, moments after asking to pray in the cockpit.
Machchhar, an Indian national, told Netanyahu that his co-pilot had stood up to pray, something he said was routine during flights, and that he turned away out of respect. A few minutes later, he felt a blow to the back of his head. The blows kept coming after that, he said, describing them as landing "one after the other."
Netanyahu told Machchhar he was amazed at his courage and composure under what he called impossible conditions. "You saved so many souls... You saved the spirit of the world," Netanyahu said, calling him a hero.
The attacker has been identified as Hamam Al Hammami, a 29-year-old Omani co-pilot, according to officials. The UAE's Attorney General, Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, said Al Hammami used a crash axe, a tool meant for breaking windows in emergencies, to attack Machchhar before attempting to seize control of the aircraft in what authorities described as an attempted terrorist act. Machchhar told Netanyahu his vision blurred from the blows as he felt the plane descending; he said he managed to open the cockpit door at one point, but Al Hammami shut it again and he fell to the floor. Despite his injuries, Machchhar said he "had that one last fight left" in him.
The plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a descent so extreme that part of its rudder was torn away, a drop aviation experts have said makes it remarkable the aircraft did not crash. FlyDubai has said crew members travelling on board helped stabilise the aircraft and bring it down safely; they have not been publicly identified.
Both the captain and co-pilot were subsequently taken to the UAE, where Machchhar remains hospitalised in Dubai. Most of the passengers, the majority of them Israeli with four Americans also on board, according to Netanyahu, flew home later on a separate flight to cheers from waiting crowds.
Machchhar has separately recounted the ordeal to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a video call from his hospital bed, telling him, "I was fighting for my life... but at the same time I knew that I cannot let everybody else die." Netanyahu has invited both Machchhar and Modi to attend Israel's Independence Day celebrations in recognition of his actions, which are credited with saving the roughly 174 passengers on board. The motive behind the alleged attack remains unclear, though officials have said Al Hammami had previously been flagged as a security risk.
