Omani pilot stood up to pray, then...: Smit Machchhar reveals how attack unfolded

Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar has recounted the tense moments inside a cockpit when the Omani co-pilot stood up to pray, saying he initially thought the plane had suffered an impact before realising that he had been hit.

“The co-pilot stood up to pray, and out of respect for him, I didn’t look back,” Machchhar said while describing what happened inside the cockpit, when asked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“A few minutes later, I felt a strong impact and thought something had happened to the plane. But then I was hit again and realised it was him,” he said.

Machchhar said he opened the cockpit door after the first incident, but the co-pilot closed it, causing him to fall to the floor.

“I opened the cockpit door once, but he closed it, and I fell to the floor,” he said.

Machchhar said he then realised he had another opportunity to open the door.

“I realised I had one more chance,” he said.

The pilot said he opened the cockpit door again and saw people waiting outside.

“When I opened it again, I saw people waiting to rush inside,” Machchhar said.

His account sheds light on the sequence of events inside the cockpit, from the co-pilot standing up to pray to the impacts that followed and Machchhar's attempts to open the cockpit door.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Machchhar and called him a hero for Israel, India and the entire world.

“You are a hero for Israel, India and the entire world. I invite you to light a torch at Israel’s Independence Day ceremony,” Netanyahu told the Indian pilot.

The invitation came as Netanyahu praised Machchhar's courage during the incident and invited him to participate in Israel's Independence Day ceremony.- Ends