Capt. Smit Machchhar, recovering in an Abu Dhabi hospital, told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised video call on Oct. 2 that he knew he had to get back on his feet to save his passengers.
“I had so many wounds. I had fallen down,” Machchhar said from the hospital, his head bandaged and tubes in his nose, before breaking down as he recalled the attack. “I was fighting for my life. At one point, I realized that if I didn’t get up … then passengers would lose their lives.”
Machchhar, who is from Mumbai, was seriously injured in Wednesday’s attack but managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to enter and restrain the attacker as the Boeing 737 descended sharply, witnesses and Israeli authorities said. He has been hailed as a hero, with world leaders saying he helped avert a disaster.
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