FlyDubai Captain Recounts Heroic Fight Against Stabbing Co-Pilot in Hospital Call

Captain Smit Machchhar lay in a hospital bed in Saudi Arabia with bandages wrapped around his head and an oxygen tube still threaded through his nose when India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Thursday. The FlyDubai pilot had been stabbed multiple times by his co-pilot during a flight to Israel the day before, yet he was composed enough to recount the moment he believed would be his last.

Machchhar, an Indian national, told Modi that faith sustained him through the attack. As he lay bleeding on the cockpit floor, he felt the aircraft beginning to descend and understood with absolute clarity that he had one final chance to act. He repeated Hindu religious chants, drawing on what he described as his belief that God would save them. Then he forced himself up and managed to open the cockpit door, allowing other crew members and passengers to rush in and subdue his attacker. The 174 people aboard the Boeing 737 were spared what Israeli officials now believe was an attempt to crash the plane deliberately.

"I was fighting for my life," Machchhar told the Prime Minister, his voice breaking as he spoke. "When I was lying on the floor I could feel the aircraft was going down. I knew exactly that this would be the last push. I told myself that if I didn't get up, there would be a problem. I managed to open the door, and then everyone else came in." He apologized for his tears, saying he had never truly been proud of himself until that moment. Modi responded with simple reassurance: "Get better and healthy, the whole nation is with you."

When Modi asked how he was feeling, Machchhar's answer was measured. "All good, sir," he said. "I am not thinking about the wounds that much. I look at this as a journey. I am confident of my recovery and return."

Meanwhile, the co-pilot—whose identity authorities have not disclosed—was transferred from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday for questioning by Israeli, UAE, and Saudi officials. An Omani official confirmed to CBS News that the man was born in Oman and holds Omani citizenship, though Oman's government has not publicly acknowledged his nationality. Saudi officials said he was hospitalized and treated for unspecified injuries after the incident.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the picture was becoming clearer: the co-pilot had undergone what he called Islamist radicalization and came to crash the plane with everyone aboard. Netanyahu said investigators were determining whether the man was dispatched by another actor, and warned that "whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price." He told Fox News on Thursday that the alleged attacker was suicidal and, after being subdued by crew and passengers, shouted "Kill me, kill me!"

Netanyahu said Israel had gathered "personal information" during initial questioning that confirmed the co-pilot's radicalization, though he offered no specifics about the nature or extent of that indoctrination. President Trump went further on Thursday, suggesting the co-pilot had links to Iran. "Based on what I'm hearing, the answer is yes," Trump said at the White House, though he acknowledged the investigation was ongoing. When asked whether the man could have been working with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or radicalized through other means, Trump said both were possible. Netanyahu, by contrast, said it was still "too early to say" whether Iran was involved.

The investigation into what motivated the attack and whether any foreign power was behind it continues across three countries. What remains clear is that Machchhar's decision to act despite his wounds prevented what officials believe could have been a mass casualty event at 35,000 feet.