5 min readUpdated: Oct 3, 2026 03:30 AM IST
A day after he was airlifted to the UAE from Saudi Arabia, flydubai’s Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar, attacked by a co-pilot who allegedly attempted to crash the plane flying to Tel Aviv from Dubai, told Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday that as he lay injured in the cockpit, he told himself “this will be the last push, Smit” so “do it, the door is right there”.
That single act of opening the cockpit door allowed passengers and reserve pilots to come in and save the plane with 174 on board from going down.
Speaking to Modi over a video call from an Abu Dhabi hospital where he is being treated for serious injuries, Machchhar said, “In that moment, yes, I was fighting for my life, but there came a moment when I realised that if I did nothing… because I had fallen down, I had been wounded so much that I was on the ground, at that time I told myself I have been flying aircraft for 17 years, have been a Captain for the last 11 years. Even if I close my eyes, I can sense what is happening aboard a plane. When I was on the ground, I felt that the aircraft was going down.”
Indian Capt. Smit Machchhar was at the controls of a FlyDubai flight that was diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing on Wednesday. (Israel’s Foreign Ministry via AP)
“I told myself: This will be the last push, Smit. Do it, the door is right there. I was being assaulted at that time. I just opened the door and all the others (passengers and reserve pilots) came; all of them too had an equal role. I was telling everyone that I was doing it to save my own life, but I also knew that I could not let the others die either,” he said.
Modi praised Machchhar for bringing glory to India and its flying community. During the 10-minute video call, he told the pilot that the entire nation was praying for him.
“Your courage, your patience and your prudence – you made so many decisions in a fraction of a second and saved so many lives. Today, the entire country can say with pride that we Indians are not those who just sacrifice their lives, but who save them,” he said.
Referring to his conversation with Machchhar’s parents and wife Thursday, Modi said, “Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk to Bhupendrabhai (Machchhar’s father), Geetaben (his mother) and Sonalben (his wife). I could not talk to Java and Bobby (his children), but I told Geetaben that you have moulded Smit’s life with the principles of the Gita.”
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Machchhar told the Prime Minister that he was his “biggest idol”. He expressed gratitude to the authorities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE for the medical care he is receiving.
Machcchar said the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ gave him strength in difficult situations. “Whenever I feel pain, I read the Hanuman Chalisa. At that time too, I was repeating the Hanuman Chalisa, and I know that it is God who has saved me. Now that you have called me, I feel proud,” he said, tears rolling down his eyes.
Modi replied, “What you have said about the Hanuman Chalisa, I bow to Geetaben for this, that she gave you such values… Yesterday when I spoke to Sonalben, I was surprised. She spoke with so much calmness and courage. I had not imagined that Sonalben, in such circumstances, could speak with such calmness.”
He told the pilot that India was eager to welcome him. “I was seeing some emotions expressed on social media – people said if this (his actions) had not happened, who knows what India would have had to face, what Bharat’s pilots would have experienced… how they would be viewed from now on. You have saved all of them… Today is Gandhi Jayanti. What ahimsa (non-violence) is, you have displayed by living it,” Modi said.
Indian Capt. Smit Machchhar was at the controls of a FlyDubai flight that was diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing on Wednesday. (Israel’s Foreign Ministry via AP)