Exclusive: You're not going to die today, Israeli flyer told Indian pilot during flydubai attack

“You’re not going to die today.” This was what Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayun told Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar after the latter was stabbed by his co-pilot inside the cockpit of the Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight.

“He was an absolute hero. I told him, ‘You’re not going to die today,’” Hayun, a plumber by profession, told India Today in an exclusive interview.

Hayun and his daughter Noa were among the 174 people aboard Flight FZ1073 when the attack took place on Wednesday.

Speaking in Hebrew, Hayun recounted the incident, while his daughter Noa translated his account into English during the interview.

“I went to the cockpit door, and it was unlocked. A crew member and I pushed the door very hard and managed to get in,” Hayun said, through Noa’s translation.

Inside, he saw Captain Machchhar lying injured on the floor. “The pilot was lying on the cockpit floor, very injured,” he said.

Hayun said the Omani co-pilot was at the controls and appeared to be interfering with the aircraft’s systems. He grabbed him from behind and pulled him away from the controls.

“He tried to fight back. He wanted to stay in the cockpit, but we didn't let him. We pulled him out,” Hayun said.

Hayun said the situation inside the cockpit was chaotic as passengers tried to restrain the co-pilot while others attended to the injured Captain Machchhar.

After the co-pilot was pulled away from the controls, three other men stayed behind with him and the injured Captain Machchhar, while Hayun moved towards the controls to help steady the aircraft.

“The aircraft was still diving when all this happened, and we were about to crash. I managed to pull the systems,” Hayun said, describing the moment he tried to bring the aircraft under control.

Hayun said he recognised the aircraft’s controls from watching flight-accident reconstructions on the television show Air Crash Investigations. With the plane still in a steep dive, he pulled back on the controls, helping level the aircraft until two off-duty pilots took over.

"The off-duty pilots were travelling with us in the economy section. One of them came to me and said, ‘Let me do it. I will handle the plane,’” he said, adding that he remained near the cockpit door to prevent anyone else from entering.

THANK YOU CAPTAIN

Hayun called Captain Machchhar a hero and said he wanted to thank him for his actions during the attack.

“Captain Smit, it's a hero. I want to thank him for letting us inside the cockpit, or all of us would have died," he said.

“Despite his injuries, he fought back. He saved us and we are very grateful. We wish him a quick recovery, and we would like to speak to him and thank him in person.

Hayun believes Machchhar may have managed to open the cockpit door before collapsing after the attack.

CO-PILOT'S MOTIVE

Hayun said he did not know what motivated the co-pilot or whether he had intended to crash the aircraft.

"I just know that we needed to get him out of the cockpit and save the plane from crashing."

Regarding his apparent attempt to crash the aircraft, Hayun said, "It looked like that but we don't know for sure."

NETANYAHU CALLS HAYUN HERO

After returning to Israel, Hayun met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport and recounted the cockpit struggle. He was still wearing the blood-stained clothes from the incident.

Netanyahu hugged Hayun and told him, “This is an honour! You are the hero!”

Hayun also recalled the attack during a one-on-one with Netanyahu.

When the Prime Minister asked whether he had actually pulled the controls, Hayun laughed and replied, “Yes, I pulled them all the way back. I watched Air Crash Investigation!”