Pilot Hailed as a Hero Tells Modi How He Struggled to Save Israel-Bound Plane

The pilot hailed as a “hero” for his actions in the cockpit of a ‌flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi how he managed to save the plane and the 174 passengers on board.

“I knew that the aircraft was going down … I had fallen to the ground,” Smit Machchhar told Modi during a video call on Friday, “I told myself that the door is right there, ‌just open ⁠it. I managed to do it, and people entered.”

Machchhar, who could be seen with a tube in his nose and bandages ​on his head and hands, spoke to Modi from a hospital bed in Abu ⁠Dhabi, where he is recovering from his ordeal.

Flight FZ1073 was carrying 174 mainly Israeli passengers when the struggle began after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and the aircraft went into a steep descent of nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 meters) in less than 30 seconds.

The injured captain managed to unlock the cockpit door, allowing passengers to enter and overpower the attacker. Two reserve pilots on board then landed the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

During a 10-minute clip released on Modi’s social media channels, Machchhar wiped away tears as he described what happened.

‘Fighting for My Life’

“I was fighting for my life in that moment,” he said. “I had fallen on the floor, I was wounded and fell down.”

“I have been ​flying for the last 17 years, have been ​a captain for the last 11 years. I knew that the aircraft was going down.

“When I was lying on the floor, I could feel that the aircraft was plunging and I said to myself while I was getting beaten, ‘this is the last push Smit, do it, the door is right there. Somehow, I opened the door, and everyone came in, and everyone else had an equal role [in the rescue]. I was trying to save myself, but I also knew that I can’t let anyone die.”

The pilot, who, like Modi, is from the state of Gujarat, said he recited a prayer during the struggle.

‘I Know God Saved Me’

“I know God saved me,” Machchhar said.

Modi ⁠praised Machchhar’s bravery and presence of mind, and said people in India were chanting mantras, or prayers, for him.

“You took a decision in a fraction of a second and saved the lives of so many people, and today, the whole country can say this with pride and ‘we Indians are not killers, we are life savers,’” Modi said.

“You enhanced the honor of 1.4 billion Indians, and that is why I am feeling proud from my heart.”

Netanyahu told CNN on Wednesday that the suspect was an Omani national who is in custody in Saudi Arabia, after he was detained when the plane landed.

“We‘ll get to the root of this attacker, whether he had accomplices, whether Iran was behind it. I think we’ll find out very soon,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday.

Reuters contributed to this report.