Struck with an Axe, "I Can't Die Like This"... Captain Who Prevented Plane Crash Gives First Interview

"Desperate efforts to call a colleague for help"

The captain of Flydubai, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) low-cost airline, has given his first media interview after being attacked with a weapon by a co-pilot who intended to crash a passenger plane packed with Israeli passengers.

Flydubai Captain Smit Machar, who was seriously injured after being attacked by the co-pilot aboard a passenger plane bound for Tel Aviv, Israel. Yonhap News.

On October 17 local time, Indian national Captain Smit Machar recalled the tense events in an interview with Sky News Arabia. This was Machar's first media interview since the incident. With bandages wrapped around his head and one hand, Captain Machar gave the interview from his hospital bed in the UAE. He said he had not noticed any signs that the co-pilot was planning to hijack the aircraft.

Describing the moment the co-pilot, who had been standing behind him in the cockpit, struck him on the back of the head with an emergency axe, he recalled, "My field of vision narrowed until I could see only a few inches in front of me." At first, he thought part of the cabin ceiling had fallen. But the co-pilot continued the attack, and Machar suffered a serious wound to his hand while trying to defend himself.

Captain Machar said he fought desperately to open the cockpit door so another off-duty pilot who was traveling as a passenger could get inside. "I kept shouting my colleague's name to call for help and desperately tried to activate the door switch right next to my hand," he said. "I remember managing to open the door, but it closed again."

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, UAE (left), visits Flydubai Captain Smit Machar, who is receiving hospital treatment. AP-Yonhap News.

"At that moment, I felt blood pouring from my body and my strength draining away. I was barely able to stay conscious," he testified. "Not long afterward, the engine noise died down, and I felt the aircraft begin to dive steeply." Captain Machar said that in that desperate moment, he held on by thinking only, "I can't die like this."

Fortunately, another fellow pilot entered the cockpit, subdued the co-pilot who was on a rampage, and landed the aircraft safely. Of the fellow pilot who used his ingenuity to bring the plane in safely, Captain Machar said, "He deserves great praise for what he did," adding, "I will remember this for the rest of my life." He added that he hoped to return to the cockpit after recovering.

Meanwhile, on September 30, an Omani co-pilot aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073, operated by the UAE low-cost airline and traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel, attacked Captain Machar and attempted to crash the passenger plane before being subdued by passengers and crew members. Despite being seriously injured by the co-pilot's weapon, Captain Machar opened the tightly shut cockpit door and called for help from passengers and crew, preventing a major disaster. Thanks to Captain Machar, all 172 passengers and crew members on board survived. The co-pilot was transferred to the UAE and is being investigated on suspicion of links to terrorism.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.