Flydubai captain details blocking axe blows during co-pilot attack

The captain of a commercial flydubai flight has broken his silence on a mid-air cockpit attack that nearly brought down an airliner carrying more than one hundred passengers toward Israel, detailing how he fought off repeated blows from a crash axe while the aircraft plunged rapidly toward the ground.

According to primary reporting detailed by The Guardian and Timeslive, Captain Smit Machchhar was speaking from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi with his head and left arm bandaged. He recalled that when the first blow landed, he initially suspected a catastrophic structural failure of the aircraft rather than a deliberate assault. As reported by Abc, the flight was carrying a total of 174 passengers en route to Israel when the violence erupted.

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The aircraft was traversing Saudi airspace when co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami launched the assault using a standard crash axe kept in the cockpit for emergency protocols. Captain Machchhar explained his immediate reaction during the harrowing assault:

"The next thought was I need to get help in here,"

Capt Smit Machchhar, Pilot, via The Guardian

Machchhar explained that his immediate instinct was to unbuckle his seatbelts, deflect the incoming strikes directed at his head, and reach for the door control knob to summon assistance. He noted that his hand went straight to the knob to open the door while screaming for his colleagues, which he believes was the moment he lost consciousness. He recalled hearing screaming between his colleague and the attacker once the door opened, and described the terrifying sensation of the aircraft nose steeply dropping.

The sudden breach of flight deck security forced the twin-jet airliner into a dramatic and terrifying descent. The plane dropped sharply over a matter of seconds before other crew members managed to regain control. Emirati authorities leading the investigation claim the plot was directly inspired by the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, with the ultimate objective of crashing the jetliner into Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

Further complicating the international dimensions of the case, UAE prosecutors have asserted that the 29-year-old Omani national underwent radicalisation during a period of study in Melbourne, Australia. However, as noted in the broader reporting, Australian authorities have not verified these specific claims. Following the safe landing of the aircraft in Saudi Arabia, the suspect was transferred to the United Arab Emirates, flydubai's home jurisdiction, following a criminal investigation launched by authorities.

Machchhar credited his fellow crew members with saving the flight from total catastrophe. After managing to twist the cockpit door open and scream out, two other pilots on board stepped in to overwhelm the attacker and stabilise the plunging aircraft. The injured captain later received a hospital visit from the Crown Prince of Dubai, Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, in recognition of his survival and quick thinking under extreme duress.