Indian captain Smit Machchhar, in a Sky News Arabia teaser ahead of an exclusive interview, recalled telling himself he could not die like this. The Times of India reported the remarks on Saturday, 17 October 2026; the interview was due at 21:00 Abu Dhabi time. The Week carried the same quotes. The interview concerns the 30 September incident on flydubai flight FZ1073, Dubai to Tel Aviv, not a new assault.

Machchhar said he is trying to get over it, but there was a moment when he realised he had to act: “Smith, do something. You can't die like this.” He added that he had not accepted his death. After the cockpit door opened he described panic and screaming, lying face down. He praised the colleague who took the controls.

Reports say the Omani co-pilot, identified as Hammam al-Hammami, attacked him in the cockpit. Injured, Machchhar opened the door; passengers and crew subdued the alleged attacker. The aircraft dropped sharply, then diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, and landed. The UAE prosecutor-general later called it an attempted “terrorist” attack, Reuters reported. Those are allegations and accounts, not a conviction.

About 174 people were on board. Machchhar was treated first in Tabuk, then in Abu Dhabi. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi praised him; the Indian embassy said he was recovering.

This article is not an attack how-to and does not report a sentence. The full interview was due on Saturday evening.

Image: Lumikus1, flydubai Boeing 737-800, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; archive aircraft in Prague, not a photograph of flight FZ1073.

Sources consulted: 'Can't die like this': Indian pilot Smit Machchhar recalls flydubai flight ordeal — Times of India; 'Do something, otherwise...': Captain Smit Machchhar recalls crucial moment — The Week.