Captain Smit Machchhar told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he believed he had only ten minutes left to live when he forced the cockpit door open. Speaking during a video call, the Flydubai captain described the visceral terror of the mid-air altercation that left him severely injured on the floor. “I was fighting for my life,” Machchhar said. “I had so many injuries, but I told myself I have to get up and act.”
The pilot, who has 17 years of flying experience, claimed his instincts told him the Boeing 737 was going down. He identified the cockpit door as the single point of entry for help. “I told myself, 'the door is right there, just open it',” he recounted. He pushed through the pain to unlock the heavy door, allowing other passengers and crew to storm in and neutralize the threat. Their combined efforts stabilized the aircraft.
Flydubai flight FZ1073, bound for Tel Aviv, had descended more than 14,000 feet in roughly 30 seconds before control was regained. The emergency diversion landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. All passengers survived the incident. Machchhar, who joined Flydubai in 2022 after a stint with SpiceJet, is currently recovering from his injuries.
Political leaders have already framed the incident as a near-miss catastrophe. PM Modi previously described Machchhar’s courage as the factor that averted a tragedy “similar to 9/11.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the Indian pilot a “true hero.” The official narrative now rests on Machchhar’s firsthand account of the final, desperate minutes in the cockpit.