‘I can’t accept my death’: Smit Machchhar recalls axe attack by co-pilot on flydubai flight

Captain Smit Machchhar stayed alive after his co-pilot hit him with a crash axe on a Dubai–Tel Aviv flight. All 180 people on board got off safely.

4 min readOct 18, 2026 06:49 AM IST First published on: Oct 18, 2026 at 06:41 AM IST

After the passengers and flydubai crew overpowered the Omani co-pilot, reportedly identified as Hamam al-Hammami, Dr Musaev treated Indian pilot Machchhar. (Photo: X/ enhanced via AI)

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar was hit on the head with a crash axe by his co-pilot in the cockpit of a flydubai plane bound for Tel Aviv on September 30. He has now told Sky News Arabia how he stayed alive. “I was in and out of consciousness frequently,” he said, but he made himself act. “I can’t accept my death,” he told the channel.

Machchhar opened the cockpit door, and cabin crew, passengers and off-duty pilots then held the co-pilot, Hammam al-Hammami. The plane landed in an emergency at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, and all 180 people on board got off safely. UAE authorities are investigating the case as an attempted hijacking, and al-Hammami has been arrested.

‘He wanted to pray’

Machchhar told Sky News Arabia the flight was going normally when al-Hammami said he wanted to pray. The co-pilot stood up and began to pray.

لأول مرة حصرياً.. قائد رحلة "فلاي دبي" يكشف لسكاي نيوز عربية التفاصيل الكاملة للاعتداء #سكاي_مباشر https://t.co/9wdSiRWAGW

— سكاي نيوز عربية (@skynewsarabia) October 17, 2026

The cockpit of the Boeing 737 he flies is small, Machchhar said, and he tries not to look at a person who is praying. He turned his attention to his computer to check the timing.

Then he felt a blow. “A very hard hit at the back of my head,” he said. He told the channel the strike felt like it came from something strong and hard. “I didn’t know at that point what had hit me,” he said.

‘I was in and out of consciousness’

Machchhar told Sky News Arabia he was hit more than once. His vision blurred, and he first thought something had gone wrong with the plane, which seemed to be dropping fast. Later he understood that he was being attacked.

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“I was in and out of consciousness frequently,” he said. At one point he feared he would not live.

He said he then made up his mind. “I realised I have to do something,” he told the channel. He called the outcome “a miracle”.

He gave a similar account in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his hospital bed. Lying on the cockpit floor and hearing passengers scream, he said he knew he had one chance left. “I had that one last fight left in me,” he told Netanyahu.

He opened the cockpit door, though he believes it was later closed again.

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How the plane landed

Cabin crew, passengers and off-duty pilots held al-Hammami. Israeli passengers were among those who overpowered him. Off-duty pilots then landed the plane at Tabuk.

Machchhar told Sky News Arabia there was panic once the cockpit door opened, with passengers screaming. He said he will always remember how a colleague stepped in and helped to manage the situation.

He was taken to hospital with injuries to his head, neck and hands. Netanyahu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump have all called him a hero.

Questions about the co-pilot

Al-Hammami had reportedly been barred from flying in Oman because of his extremist views. Authorities are now looking into how he was allowed to fly a plane that carried Israeli passengers.

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Last week, two more flydubai pilots were arrested in Dubai on suspicion of planning a terror attack. Both are said to have flown to Israel in the past, and both had worked with al-Hammami.

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