An Indian pilot, Smit Machchhar, who was wounded during an alleged attack by his co-pilot aboard a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight, acted to protect the plane's passengers, he told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. In a video posted by Modi on social media, Machchhar said during a call from his hospital bed that he was trying to save his own life but knew he could not let all those people die. The Boeing 737 flight, operated by Dubai-based flydubai, was carrying 174 passengers when the altercation took place on Wednesday. Machchhar, who has 17 years of aviation experience, including 11 as a captain, described the moment he realised the plane was going down while he was lying injured, sparking his final push to avert disaster.
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