Hero FlyDubai pilot speaks out following attack during flight

6abc Philadelphia
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10 Video Views·Oct 19, 2026
Hero FlyDubai pilot speaks out following attack during flight
Back to an update on that mid-air attack
on a flight headed from Dubai to Israel.
The hero pilot who helped stop the plot to crash
the plane is speaking out in his first TV interview.
Captain Smith Machar says about two hours into the flight,
his co-pilot, Hamam al-Hamami, went to use the restroom.
When he came back to his seat, he said he wanted to pray.
Machar says he was checking the flight's landing time on his computer
when he was suddenly hit in the head with a crash axe.
That's when he called out for help.
My immediate reaction was to get the other captain
who was still there inside.
I was screaming his name.
But I remember being able to open the door.
When the door was open, it was a completely different scene.
I remember being face down.
And of course, the panic which was there,
the screaming which was there.
Everyone involved did the best in their capacity to save the day.
The captain said he is grateful to his fellow crew members
and the passengers who fought off Hamami and kept him alive.
As for Hamami, intelligence officials say he is an Omani national.
The co-pilot trainee had previously been suspended
from flying after being identified as a security risk.
Investigators are still trying
to figure out how he was cleared to fly again.
