Captain Smit Machchhar showing steady health improvement: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs said Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar is recovering well and showing steady improvement after he fought an attacking co-pilot aboard a Flydubai aircraft last week. The Indian Embassy in UAE is coordinating his treatment

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday said Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar, who fought against an attacking co-pilot on a Flydubai aircraft and helped save 174 people on board last week, is recovering well and showing steady improvement in his health.

Addressing a biweekly press briefing in New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the Indian Embassy in the UAE has been closely coordinating with the pilot, his family, local authorities and the hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

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“Captain Machchhar is in a hospital in Abu Dhabi. We have kept you updated on his health condition. Our Embassy in the UAE has been in regular touch with him, his family, local and hospital authorities. He is recuperating well, responding well and his health is improving,” Jaiswal said.

On Tuesday, while updating on Machchhar’s health, the Indian Embassy in the UAE took to X and posted, “Capt Smit continues to make steady progress and is regaining his health. The Embassy remains in close touch with his family, doctors and local authorities, extending all possible assistance. We thank everyone for their prayers and wish him a speedy recovery.”

Machchhar on Saturday recounted the terrifying moments inside the cockpit when he realised that his co-pilot was attacking him.

He described the ordeal while speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who invited the pilot and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to light a celebratory flame at Israel’s next Independence Day ceremony.

Machchhar said the flight had begun as a normal journey and that he was looking ahead while his co-pilot prayed.

According to Machchhar, he initially had no reason to suspect that anything was wrong. He said the co-pilot had told him he wanted to pray, something he described as a common practice among local passengers and crew members, and that he therefore looked towards the front of the cockpit out of respect.

“While he was praying, out of respect, I was looking at the front and not at the back, and suddenly, after about four to five minutes, there was a big blow to the back of my head.”

Machchhar said his immediate thought after the first heavy blow was that something catastrophic had happened to the aircraft itself.

“My first thought was that there was catastrophic damage to the aircraft, that something is not right … but after that the blows kept coming, one after the other and that’s when I realised that it’s not the aircraft, it’s the other guy who is in the cockpit with me,” he said.

The pilot said he attempted to stop the attacker, but the initial blows had severely affected his vision and left him struggling to see clearly.

“I did try and stop him, but because of his initial blows, my vision was almost like nothing, and I was completely blurred out,” Machchhar said.

“And at that point, the next feeling I had was that the aircraft was sharply going down,” he said. “My memory is still in bits and pieces right now, but this is what I remember out of that time.”

Machchhar said he managed to open the cockpit door once during the struggle, but believed that the co-pilot subsequently shut it again.

“I did try and manage to open the door once, but I think he shut it back closed. And at this point, I remember, I was lying down on the cockpit floor, and I felt the aircraft and the whooshing sound and people screaming,” he said.

It was at that moment, Machchhar said, that he realised he had one final opportunity to prevent the aircraft from going down. Despite his injuries and the attack he had already endured, he decided to make another attempt to reach the cockpit door.

“And as I was telling the Ambassador here, I had that one last fight left in me… Call it personal or call it for people, I did it because if I didn’t do it, I was going to die, and that’s when I pushed against everything… I gave everything that I had and went for the door and opened the door.”