Captain Smit Machchhar has described helping passengers and crew regain access to the cockpit during an alleged attack aboard a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, according to the Guardian’s October 2 report, updated October 3.
Speaking by video with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from an Abu Dhabi hospital, the captain said he opened the cockpit door after being injured. The newspaper reported that passengers and crew then restrained the alleged attacker, and relief pilots helped land the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. More than 170 passengers were aboard.
Saudi authorities arrested the co-pilot. The circumstances of the incident remained under investigation, and the reported motive and affiliations had not been established.
Modi praised Machchhar’s actions. The captain’s account describes his experience of the emergency; it does not replace the findings of the continuing investigation.
