flydubai pilot details cockpit axe attack and struggle to save flight FZ1073

Captain Smit Machchhar, the flydubai pilot who survived a cockpit attack on flight FZ1073, has detailed the moment his co-pilot allegedly attempted to crash the Boeing 737-8 during a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Speaking from his hospital bed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, 4 October, Machchhar described a "last fight" to open the cockpit door while suffering from blurred vision and serious head injuries. Assault at 34,000 feet The incident occurred while the aircraft was cruising at 34,000 feet with 174 passengers on board. Machchhar stated that his co-pilot had been praying shortly before the assault began. "Four or five minutes later, something slammed into the back of my head," Machchhar recalled, noting that he initially suspected catastrophic mechanical failure until subsequent blows confirmed a physical attack. The UAE Attorney General, Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, previously confirmed the captain was attacked with a crash axe. During the struggle, the aircraft transmitted emergency signals and plummeted more than 17,000 feet. Machchhar described hearing the "whooshing sound" of the rapid descent and the screams of passengers. Despite his vision being "almost like nothing" due to the initial blows, he managed to reach the cockpit door. "I pushed against everything... I gave everything that I had and went for the door and opened the door," he said. Crew and passengers were then able to intervene and restrain the attacker. Official investigation and…