The Flydubai captain whose co-pilot attacked him during a flight to Israel recounted the horror he faced during the incident.
Smit Machchhar said that as the co-pilot attacked and stabbed him, he realized that he had to keep fighting or everyone aboard the plane would die.
"In that moment, I was fighting for my life," Machchhar told India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video call on Friday, according to CNN. "I was so severely wounded that I had fallen down... at that time, I was thinking, what if I don't get up?"
Machchhar was attacked by his co-pilot during the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. After passengers managed to subdue the attacker and stabilize the plane, the flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia.
During the assault on Machchhar, the plane plunged 17,000 feet toward the ground. The assailant was overpowered by other crew and passengers thanks in part to Machchhar, who, despite sustaining serious injuries, was able to get the door to the cockpit open.
Machchhar told Modi that he was lying on the ground, still being attacked, when he felt the plane in a nosedive.
"And I knew in that moment – one last push, Smit! Just do it. The door is right there," he said. "And even at that time, he was beating me up...And then I just opened it... and then everybody came."
"I was doing this for my life, but at the same time, I knew that I couldn't let everybody else die," he added.
Few details have been released regarding the man who attacked Machchhar, what his motive was, or who he might have ties to. Authorities have said he was from Oman.
Israel has been at the center of tensions in the region since the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks by Hamas ignited the Gaza war. Iran has long supported Hamas. Israel also participated in the start of the U.S. war against Iran in February of this year.
President Trump speculated that Iran could be tied to the attempted hijacking. The Associated Press reported that when asked about Iran's potential involvement, Trump said: "I would say the answer, based on what I'm hearing, is yes, but we're working on it right now."
If an Iranian link was confirmed, Trump said that Iran would face consequences: "Oh, they'll be hit very hard, don't worry."
"You just ask them," he said to the AP. "They know what happened. They'll be hit very hard."
