Capt. Smit Machchhar, the FlyDubai pilot who heroically opened the plane's cockpit door after being stabbed by his copilot in a mid-flight attack, told Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi he was fighting for his life before taking the heroic action.
"You are my biggest idol, and I am feeling very proud that you called me and encouraged me. I was fighting for my life in that moment," he told Modi during a Friday phone call.
"It was a moment when I thought, because I had fallen on the floor, I was wounded and fell down. At that moment, I thought if I don't get up, I've been flying for the last 17 years and I have been a captain for the last 11 years, and even if I shut my eyes, I can tell what is happening inside a plane. When I was lying on the floor, I could feel that the aircraft was plunging, and I said to myself while I was getting beaten, 'This is the last push Smit, do it, the door is right there,'" he recalled.
"Somehow, I opened the door and everyone came in and everyone else had an equal role (in the rescue). I was trying to save myself, but I also knew that I can't let anyone die," he said.
FLYDUBAI PILOT SHOWED WORLD 'THE HIGHEST FORM OF COURAGE,' INDIA'S PM SAYS
Machchhar’s ability to open the door allowed Israeli passengers on board to rush into the cockpit, incapacitate the copilot, and stabilize the quickly plummeting aircraft after it had plunged more than 14,000 feet in 30 seconds.
FLYDUBAI PASSENGER SAYS CO-PILOT STABBED CAPTAIN BEFORE TERRIFYING PLUNGE, EMERGENCY LANDING
The heroic pilot, whose efforts have garnered praise from Modi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and numerous passengers on the flight, said he turned to his faith to get through the harrowing ordeal.
"Whenever I'm in pain, I know only one thing, I chant the Hanuman Chalisa. I know that God saved me," Machchhar said.
FLYDUBAI PILOT SHOWED WORLD 'THE HIGHEST FORM OF COURAGE,' INDIA'S PM SAYS
Modi, in turn, told Machchhar that all of India was praying for him.
"Yesterday, prayers and chants were offered in all the temples and holy places, wishing for your long life, and we all are praying for your good health. You are going to be in good health very soon and India is very eager to welcome you," Modi said.
"People are chanting mantras. Your courage, patience, and presence of mind. You took a decision in a fraction of a second and saved the lives of so many people and today, the whole country can say this with pride — we Indians are not killers, we are lifesavers," Modi said. "And you endured so many wounds on your body and you are fighting a battle of life and death. In that moment as well, you did not think of your life, rather thought about the lives of the passengers. And the biggest thing is you enhanced the honor of 1.4 billion Indians and that is why I am feeling proud from my heart."
Machchhar was stabbed in the head and "his arm was basically split in two" during the attack, Netanyahu revealed to Fox News in a Thursday interview. But the pilot expressed hope that he would achieve a full recovery.
NETANYAHU PRAISES HEROIC BYSTANDER IN BLOODY COCKPIT ATTACK FOR PREVENTING ‘ANOTHER 9/11’
"I am not thinking about my wounds like typical wounds because that will hinder my recovery. I am taking these wounds like a journey which will progress slowly, and it will take time, but I am very confident that this recovery will happen, and I will be absolutely healthy," he told Modi.
After being stabilized in Saudi Arabia, where a second flight crew on board the plane safely landed the plane, Machchhar was taken to a hospital in the UAE, where he is now recovering.
FLYDUBAI PASSENGER SAYS CO-PILOT STABBED CAPTAIN BEFORE TERRIFYING PLUNGE, EMERGENCY LANDING
"I am fine and everything is all right," he told Modi.
