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The Indian pilot stabbed by his co-pilot on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv has replayed the dramatic attack and his desperate effort to open the cockpit door to seek help, in a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Smit Machchhar, seen with a tube in his nose and bandages on his head and hands, spoke to Modi from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi on Friday during a nearly 10-minute clip released on Modi’s social media channels, wiping away tears as he narrated his ordeal.
"I knew that the aircraft was going down ... I had fallen to the ground. I told myself that the door is right there, just open it. I managed to do it and people entered," he said.
Machchhar was stabbed by his co-pilot in an alleged attempt to crash the flydubai plane on Wednesday.
The jet, with 174 people on board, plunged nearly 14,000 feet (4267 metres) in less than 30 seconds in the incident.
"I have been flying for the last 17 years, have been a captain for the last 11 years. I knew that the aircraft was going down," he said.
Modi praised Machchhar's bravery and said his presence of mind saved lives and saved the reputation of Indian pilots.
"I know God saved me," said an emotional Machchhar, who is from Modi's home state of Gujarat, saying he recited a Hindu prayer to the monkey god Hanuman during the ordeal.
Machchhar was covered with blood and on the floor when he managed to open the cockpit door, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Reuters on Thursday.
That allowed passengers and crew to overpower the co-pilot and let a second pair of flydubai pilots on board take control of the jet and land it in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Machchhar trained in New Zealand early in his career.
Mainland Air chief executive Philip Kean said Machchhar, lived in Mosgiel, near Dunedin, and trained with Mainland Air as a student between 2008 and 2009.
He was an excellent pilot and a good person, Mr Kean told the Otago Daily Times on Friday.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials were expected to question the co-pilot who allegedly attempted to crash the plane, according to a source briefed on the investigation.
The man was transferred on Thursday to the United Arab Emirates. His identity has not been publicly disclosed, other than that he is from Oman.
Investigators would take part in the UAE-led investigation alongside Emirati authorities, seeking to determine what happened and examine the suspect's motives and background.
In his first public comments on the incident, flydubai chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith said on Friday that authorities were conducting an official investigation, supported by the airline, after what he described as a "safety incident" in the cockpit.
"It is important that we allow this process to establish the facts," he said in a written statement, acknowledging that there were "many questions" about what happened on flight FZ1073.
The UAE state news agency reported on Thursday that Emirati authorities had opened an investigation seeking to establish the circumstances and motives and determine "whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose, or involved prior planning or direction".
Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel was looking into whether the co-pilot had acted under anyone's direction, warning in a video statement released by his office that whoever was involved would pay a "heavy price".
Most of the passengers on board were Israeli nationals.