Indian Flydubai pilot describes stabbing by co-pilot during Tel Aviv flight

The Indian Flydubai pilot who was stabbed by his copilot in an apparent attempt to crash the plane has spoken about his ordeal for the first time.

After being seriously wounded, Captain Smit Machchhar managed unlock the cockpit door. This enabled other passengers to enter the cockpit and restrain the copilot, while a deadheading pilot took control of the aircraft.

"I had so many wounds. I had fallen down," Machchhar told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video call from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi.

"I was fighting for my life. At one point, I realized that if I didn’t get up … then passengers would lose their lives."

Some 180 passengers were on board the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv which had to be diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, due to the situation. Most passengers were Israeli nationals.

Anwar Gargash, an adviser to the UAE president, took to social media on Friday to say Machchhar deserved "the highest recognition for embodying courage and responsibility in the face of a terrorist act and an imminent catastrophe," all while calling him a "true hero."

The suspected attacker, an Omani national, was arrested upon landing in Saudi Arabia, with the motive still being unclear, with Israel saying it believes it was an attempted Islamist attack.

Official labels incident 'terrorist act'

A senior official from the United Arab Emirates on Friday labeled the incident as a terrorist attack. Israel used similar terms to describe the incident.

FlyDubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said the company will carry out a full investigation of the incident.

"It is important that we allow this process to establish the facts," he said in a statement.

The company said it will suspend its flights to Tel Aviv until October 15 at least.

Israeli officials to investigate suspect: report

A source also told Reuters that Israeli officials are expected to investigate the flight's co-pilot, currently held in the UAE. The source emphasized it was the UAE who's responsible for the investigation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was looking into whether the co-pilot had been instructed by anyone.

"Whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price, Netanyahu said.

Many Israelis were stranded in the UAE as a result of the flight suspension between the two countries following the incident, with Israeli airlines receiving the necessary approvals to start repatriating Israeli nationals back to Israel.

Edited by: Zac Crellin