Flydubai 'hero' pilot says praying gave him courage

Captain Smit Machchhar, the 'hero' flydubai pilot has spoken with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi. Mr Machchhar described the moment his co-pilot attacked him in an apparent attempt to down the commercial plane carrying hundreds of people. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also praised Mr Machchhar's actions and hailed the pilot a hero. The "hero" Indian pilot who fought off a mid-flight attack from his co-pilot has described the harrowing ordeal from hospital in a talk with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Captain Smit Machchhar, appearing from an Abu Dhabi hospital bed, told Mr Modi that he opened the cockpit door while he was still being attacked on the floor. "I had so many wounds. I had fallen down," he said from the hospital, his head bandaged and tubes in his nose, before breaking down as he recalled the attack in a nearly 10-minute-long video released by the prime minister's office on Friday, local time. "I was fighting for my life. At one point, I realised that if I didn't get up … then passengers would lose their lives," he told Mr Modi. "I knew that the aircraft was going down … I had fallen to the ground. I told myself that the door is right there, just open it. I managed to do it and people entered." Mr Machchhar was stabbed by his co-pilot in an alleged attempt to crash the flydubai plane on Wednesday. The jet plunged nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 metres) in less than 30 seconds in the incident. The flight bound for Tel Aviv was carrying 174 people and was forced to divert to Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing. Mr Machchhar said that during those difficult moments, he recited the Hanuman Chalisa, a Hindu devotional hymn dedicated to Lord Hanuman and traditionally recited as a prayer for strength and courage. "Lord Hanuman gave me courage," he told Mr Modi. Mr Machchhar, who is married and has two children, has worked for flydubai for about four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before joining the airline, he spent 11 years with SpiceJet, an Indian low-cost carrier, where he served as a senior commander and line training captain. He logged more than 9,750 flying hours with SpiceJet.