On October 17, Flydubai captain Smith Machhar gave his first direct interview to the press since the incident, speaking to Sky News. In it, he detailed the "psychologically traumatizing" experience he endured during the hijacking that took place on September 30 on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. According to Machhar, at the moment when the co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami, suspected of the hijacking, attacked him with an axe, the only thought racing through his head was: "I cannot die like this."

"Field of vision narrowed to a few centimeters"

The captain recounted that at the moment of the blow to the back of his head, his "field of vision narrowed to a few centimeters." Initially, Machhar thought a piece of the cockpit ceiling had broken off and fallen on him, but then several more blows followed, and he injured his hand while trying to defend himself. He stated that he struggled to open the cockpit door so another pilot on the same flight could enter: "I shouted his name and tried to reach the door switch to call for help. I remember managing to open the door, but it slammed shut immediately."

Passengers in the cockpit: how the suspect was neutralized

According to investigators, after the cockpit door opened, several passengers immediately rushed inside, resisted arrest, and neutralized the suspect. In the interview, Captain Machhar admitted that at that moment he "felt his blood draining and his strength fading," and that he "almost fell into a delirium and fought hard to stay conscious." He expressed his admiration for the actions of his colleagues who intervened and attempted to land the plane safely.

Descent and landing in Tabuk

Then, according to Machhar, he heard the engine noise gradually dying down and immediately felt the plane plummeting. The September 30 incident indeed involved a significant loss of altitude before the situation was brought under control. Subsequently, the flight was redirected and landed in the city of Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Confession: 9/11-style terrorist plot

The suspected co-pilot, according to reports, confessed that he planned to steer the plane into the terminal of Israel's Ben Gurion Airport to carry out a terrorist attack similar to the 9/11 attacks in the United States. Captain Machhar's interview is the first public testimony from a direct participant in the events since the incident at the end of September and provided a rare glimpse into the sequence of events from inside the cockpit.