Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a phone conversation with Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar, who is currently being treated in a hospital in Abu Dhabi, according to infohub.kz.
The Indian prime minister posted a video of the conversation on social media platform X. Machchhar, an Indian citizen, was in command of the airliner that sent out a distress signal. According to a translation of the conversation provided by The Guardian, the pilot told the prime minister that he was acutely aware of the need to get back on his feet, because the lives of the passengers on board depended on it.
"I had so many wounds. I kept falling. I was fighting for my life. At some point I realized that if I didn't get up, the passengers would die," The Guardian quoted him as saying.
Machchhar, a Mumbai native, was seriously wounded during the incident on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. He managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to enter and subdue the attacker when the Boeing 737 began a steep descent. His actions were described as heroic, and world leaders said it was Machchhar who helped prevent a potential catastrophe.
The pilot also told the Indian prime minister that during the difficult moments he recited the Hanuman Chalisa, a religious hymn dedicated to the Hindu deity Hanuman and traditionally recited as a prayer for strength and courage. "Lord Hanuman gave me courage," he told Modi.
On September 30, media reports emerged that a Boeing 737 passenger plane had sent an emergency signal while turning over Saudi Arabia. It transmitted code 7500, which means hijacking or unlawful interference. Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled toward the aircraft.
It then became known that the airliner had landed in Saudi Arabia. Subsequently, Flydubai told Israeli television that a fight had broken out on board between the pilots on the Dubai–Tel Aviv flight.
Soon the first photos and videos from the plane appeared. The image showed a passenger who was presumably struggling with the attacker. Authorities are investigating the possibility that one of the pilots may have deliberately tried to crash the plane. It is believed that his actions were stopped by the co-pilot and Israeli passengers who fought him and prevented a catastrophe.
Media also reported that pilots from Ukraine and Russia were flying as passengers and took over control of the Flydubai plane. It later emerged that the person injured in the attack by a colleague on board the Flydubai airliner was Indian citizen Smit Machchhar.
Flydubai suspended flights to and from Israel until the investigation into the incident is completed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with a passenger on the Flydubai flight who helped subdue the pilot who started the fight.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called the incident on board the Flydubai plane an attempted terrorist attack. And in Iran, they claim that Israel planned the Flydubai plane emergency to draw the United States back into the conflict.