A dentist who helped subdue a pilot after a cockpit stabbing on a FlyDubai flight has recounted how the alleged assailant pleaded with him to "kill me" after being restrained. The FZ1073 flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv descended into chaos on Wednesday when the captain was allegedly stabbed at 34,000ft by his co-pilot in a reported attempted hijacking.
Passengers wrestled the attacker to the ground and held him down, while others worked to regain control of the aircraft and tend to the wounded captain, Smit Machchhar. The plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia, and footage showed the knifeman seated on the floor with his head lowered and hands bound.
Passenger recounts attack
Among those who intervened was Georgian Jewish dentist Shota Musaev, 47. He told the Daily Mail that he rushed to assist Mr Machchhar as the attacker begged him to end his life.
"Everything was going smoothly when, suddenly, we felt the aircraft drop sharply. We thought it was just turbulence," he said. "I took out my camera and started filming. Exactly half a minute later, we heard noises from the front: shouting, and a woman screaming, 'Knife! Knife!'"
Musaev said he realised it was a terrorist attack and joined those who had already rushed to the cockpit. Alongside three other men, he "grabbed the attacker by the neck" and dragged him out. "We tied the terrorist up, binding his hands and feet," he said. "[The attacker said] nothing apart from begging us: 'Kill me'."
Captain's wounds and wife's support
The captain also pleaded with him, saying "Save me. I don't want to die here." Musaev described the pilot's condition: "His arm was badly slashed, as was his neck, and he had a very deep wound at the back of his head. Everything in the cockpit was covered in blood, but he was conscious. We were effectively left without first-aid supplies. Somehow, we managed to stop the bleeding with pieces of cloth."
Musaev was travelling with his wife and children. He commended his wife for her composure during the ordeal. "My wife usually gets frightened quite easily, but at that moment she found tremendous strength and was helping absolutely everyone there, every single person," he said. He wept recalling the moment he told his wife he was going to help and "effectively said goodbye to her".
Investigation and response
The captain has received worldwide acclaim, including from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Musaev echoed Netanyahu's statement that the pilot's ability to unlock the cockpit door was vital in saving passengers' lives. "Had the cockpit remained locked, we probably would not have been able to do anything. It would have been another September 11, the same as what happened in America," he said.
Netanyahu remarked about the attacker: "We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination. That appears to be something we are gathering from his personal information." The incident remains under investigation, though preliminary evaluations by Israeli authorities indicated the co-pilot was probably operating independently.
