Machchhar recalled that first officer Hamad al-Hammami had been sitting beside him for two hours before the attack and had shown no indication of what Emirati prosecutors described as a “premeditated terrorist plot”.
“The first time when I was hit...my thought was something's gone horribly wrong with the aircraft structure, which has fallen on my head,” the captain told The National.
The initial blow nearly caused him to fall onto his control column. However, as the strikes continued over the next few seconds, he realised that the person attacking him was his own co-pilot, someone he had expected to work alongside as part of the flight crew.
“It almost made me fall on my control column. In the next couple of seconds, when the hits kept on coming, [I realised] it's the other person who I thought was supposed to be on the team,” Machchhar said.
The captain acknowledged that he was not entirely certain how events unfolded immediately after the assault. Despite being attacked, he managed to free himself from his seat belt and opened the cockpit door after several attempts.
He then began screaming for his colleagues. Machchhar believes he lost consciousness for the first time at that point, collapsing face down inside the cockpit.
“And [I was] screaming for my colleagues. I believe that was the first time when I lost consciousness. I fell face down in the cockpit,” he recalled.
Machchhar later remembered being pulled out of the cockpit amid what he described as “chaos and commotion”. Passengers and crew subsequently restrained the attacker, while a pair of off-duty flydubai pilots took control of the aircraft.
“The next thing I remember was [being] pulled out by one of the passengers. And then, soon after that, the senior cabin crew thankfully reached where I was and did his magic. And yeah, that's how I'm speaking to you today,” he said.
The captain also addressed reports about Yaniv Hayoun, an Israeli plumber who has claimed that he intervened during the attempted hijacking. According to Hayoun, he broke into the cockpit, beat and pinned down the co-pilot, and then brought the aircraft under control.
Hayoun reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he had watched “Air Crash Investigation”, through which he learnt how to control the plane.
However, Machchhar said he was unfamiliar with the plumber’s account.
“I don't know about the plumber story, to be very honest,” he said when asked about Hayoun’s reported role in stopping the incident.
Reflecting on his own actions during the attack, Machchhar said his priority had been to survive and ensure that he did not give up. He also recalled hearing the senior flight crew member speaking and saying that the captain was at the controls.
“My entire energy was focusing towards not giving up...I do remember the senior of the flight speaking and saying that the captain was at control,” he said.
Asked whether a plumber could land an aircraft, Machchhar declined to speculate about the reported sequence of events, while reiterating that his attention had been focused on staying alive.
“Can a plumber land an aircraft? I don't want to get into the guesswork here, but at the same time to answer your question, my recollection and my energy at that point were just to keep myself alive,” he added.
His remarks leave room for interpretation, as it remains unclear whether he was expressing doubts about Hayoun’s account or simply indicating that he had no knowledge of the reported intervention.
Following the incident, the Omani co-pilot was taken into custody after the aircraft landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Machchhar was initially treated at a hospital in the kingdom before being transferred to Abu Dhabi, where he is recovering.
The captain’s account provides a first-hand description of the cockpit assault, while questions remain about the precise sequence of events that led to the attacker being restrained and the aircraft brought under control.
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