Hero flydubai pilot recalls moment co-pilot attacked him with axe in hijack attempt

The pilot of a passenger flight that was targeted in an alleged attempted hijacking has recalled the moment he was first allegedly attacked by his colleague.

Indian national Smit Machchhar was pilot on flydubai flight FZ1073, when his co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, allegedly tried to hijack the plane and deliberately crash it into a passenger terminal at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on September 30.

However, Machchhar and other passengers and crew were able to repel the alleged hijacking attempt, allowing the flight to land safely in Saudi Arabia, saving the lives of 180 people on board.

Machchhar was seriously injured after being hit by an axe several time on the head and arms, and he recalled the moment the alleged attempted hijacking began during the flight from Dubai to Te Aviv.

“The first [time] when I was hit, my thought was, ‘something’s gone horribly wrong with the aircraft structure’, which is what hit my head,” he said, saying that he thought part of the plane had collapsed and hit him on the head.

It was al-Hammami who allegedly struck him.

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“When he kept on coming, and I did get a glance, that is when I realised things are not normal now, things have taken a drastic turn.”

Machcchar said he tried to free himself from his seatbelt as much as possible, before opening the cockpit door and shouting for help.

“[I was] just screaming for my colleagues, screaming his name. I believe that was the first time when I lost my consciousness,” he said.

“Since I was in the motion of turning around and getting up, I fell face down in the cockpit.”

He said he remembers feeling the plane's engines beginning to decrease in power and the aircraft’s nose fall, which he said was the “scariest thing I heard and felt”.

During the ordeal, the plane plummeted more than 5.3 kilometres from a height of about 10.36km in just over two minutes

Despite his injuries, Machchhar’s calls for help were heard by a reserve crew and passengers, who were able to subdue al-Hammami, which led to the flight coming under control and the safe landing.

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At least six people were injured, including Machchhar, and al-Hammami, an Omani national, has been arrested and accused of an attempted suicide attack on Tel Aviv’s main airport.

Al-Hammami was allegedly radicalised while studying at a Melbourne university in 2017, where investigators in the UAE allege he became engaged in reading extremist literature that glorified terrorist organisations and suicide bombings.

He was granted an Australian student visa in 2014, and lived in Melbourne between 2015 and 2017, studying at RMIT in the city.

The Australian Federal Police and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation continue to investigate his time in the country and potential local connections.

Machchhar said there were no warning signs of impending danger before the alleged attempted hijacking took place.

“I would not say there was anything suspicious,” he said.

Machchhar insisted he and his fellow crew were simply doing their best to save the lives of their passengers

“I did my best to do what I did, and the others when it came on their hands, did what they were supposed to do as well and save the day,” he said.