New Delhi: Captain Smit Machchhar, speaking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a video call Friday, gave him a brief account of the fatal attack and his fightback inside the Dubai-Tel Aviv flydubai flight cockpit and stated that he kept chanting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ while fighting off the attacker co-pilot.
The wounded pilot turned emotional, briefing the Prime Minister about his valiant rescue act mid-air and said that he had almost gone down staving off the deadly attack, but one thing that kept him going on was the thought that he could not let 170 passengers die.
“I knew that if I did not wake up, nobody would survive. I pushed myself to open the cockpit door. I kept chanting the Hanuman Chalisa, as I always do when confronted with difficult circumstances,” Captain Machchhar told PM Modi, with tears flowing down his cheeks.
Comforting the teary-eyed pilot captain, PM Modi patted his back and told him that if he did not get emotional in front of him, where else could he.
The Prime Minister also saluted his parents, Geeta Ben and Bhupendra Bhai, for raising him with high moral values.
Captain Machchhar, further sharing his decades of flying experience, told the Prime Minister that he has been flying planes for 17 years, has been a Captain for 11 years, and fully understands his responsibility that passengers’ safety remains paramount in all circumstances.
The Captain also told PM Modi that he takes his two-year-old son in his lap every day and chants Hanuman Chalisa to him.
“We are far from our motherland but can’t be far from our culture and civilisation,” he added, while also informing about the good medical care and supervision.
PM Modi thanked the authorities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE and told Captain Machchhar that he is just a phone call away, hinting that the brave pilot could connect with him whenever he needs.
Emotional Machchhar described the telephonic conversation as a very proud moment for him because he never thought he would get an opportunity to speak with him.
