The Indian Flydubai captain who was attacked by his co-pilot this week during an Israel-bound flight has spoken of his battle to save the aircraft in an emotional call with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
Capt Smit Machchhar, his head and hands wrapped in bandages, told Modi in the video call – which was posted online by the Indian government – that he was stabbed by the co-pilot, who has not been named, and fell to the floor.
In his first public comments since the attack, which caused the plane to enter a steep dive before it was stabilised, he said that as an experienced pilot, “even with my eyes closed, I can tell what’s happening to the plane ... When I was on the ground, I knew the aircraft was diving.”
Machchhar, who said he had been flying planes for 17 years and a captain for 12, said he had recited a Hindu prayer and opened the cockpit door to allow passengers to rush in and save the plane from plunging into the Saudi desert.
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“The cockpit door was right there, and even though I was still being attacked, I managed to open the door, and the others rushed in,” he said. “I knew I was fighting for my life, but I couldn’t let the other [passengers] die.”
The plane, which was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, plummeted more than 5,000m in 90 seconds, according to Flightradar24. It was eventually stabilised and made an emergency landing at Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia, with its rudder heavily damaged. Most of the 174 passengers on board were Israeli.
Machchhar and the co-pilot were both transferred from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi on Thursday “accompanied by the UAE security team”, according to Saudi state media. The United Arab Emirates said on Thursday it was investigating whether the attack was linked to “terrorist activity” and whether it was premeditated.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination”, though Israel has not so far released evidence for that claim.
Machchhar’s actions have won him praise as a hero in India, Israel and beyond.
His call with Modi came at a time of warm relations between the Indian nationalist government and Netanyahu’s far-right administration, partly driven by what they have characterised as a shared fight against terrorism. Both premiers have advanced visions of their nations as homelands for their religious majorities.
The flourishing India-Israel relationship spans intelligence sharing, surveillance, billions of dollars of arms sales, joint weapons development and cultural ties. Diplomats say Modi and Netanyahu speak regularly on the phone.
In the phone call, Machchhar, his eyes welling up with tears, spoke of reciting one of Modi’s favourite prayers, the Hanuman Chalisa – 40 quatrains celebrating the strength, loyalty, celibacy and vigour of a martial Hindu god – during the perilous situation on board the Flydubai flight.
Modi said their nation was grateful to him for showing the world that “Indians are not a people that takes lives, but a nation that saves lives. You’ve made 1.4 billion of your countrymen proud,” added Modi.
Members of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party posted a video on social media showing Machchhar lying calmly on a stretcher while paramedics tended to his bloodied wounds, calling him the “braveheart Indian pilot”.
Yaniv Revach, Israel’s consul general in Mumbai, said: “India has a new hero, and Israel will never forget his name, Capt Smit Machchhar.” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
