‘If I don’t do it, I’m going to die’: Blow-by-blow of what happened in cockpit of ‘hijacked’ plane revealed by captain.

THE Flydubai pilot bludgeoned with an axe during an alleged hijacking has recounted his desperate battle for survival within the blood-soaked cockpit.

While almost completely blinded by pain Captain Smit Machchhar “gave everything” to force open the cockpit door, he has recounted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His brave actions helped save all 180 pᴀssengers on board as Israeli intelligence suggests the suspected hijacker, Hamam al-Hammami, 29, had every intention of causing mᴀss casualties.

Machchhar said: “I had one last fight in me.

“If I don’t do it, I’m going to die… and just went for the door and opened the door.”

The captain said the nightmare began when his co-pilot said he wanted to pray, a request he noted was “not out of the ordinary”.

As Machchhar looked away “out of respect”, the co-pilot allegedly struck, landing a heavy blow to the back of his head.

He said: “My first thought was that there was catastrophic damage to the aircraft.

“But then, after that, the blows kept coming, one after the other and that’s when I realised that it’s not the aircraft – it’s the other guy who was in the cockpit with me.

“I did try to stop him but because of his initial blows my vision was almost like nothing.”

He remembers lying on the cockpit floor as the plane plunged 17,000ft.

Machchhar continued: “I felt the aircraft woosh down and people screaming.

“I had one last fight left in me and that’s when I pushed against everything, gave everything that I have and just went for the door.

“Thankfully, people were waiting to pounce back, took over the controls, and the rest is what you know, sir.”

Netanyahu told Machchhar how he admired his “courage” and invited the captain to light a torch alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Israel’s next Independence Day celebration.

He said: “It’s usually reserved for Israeli citizens, but I think here in this case, all the citizens of Israel will embrace you.

“You’re a hero of Israel, you’re a hero of India, you’re a hero of the entire world.”

If Machchhar had been unable to open the cockpit door, it is understood the suspected hijacker may have crashed the plane directly into Tel Aviv airport.

Israeli sources claim that al-Hammami confessed to plotting the terrifying 9/11-style attack before he was even accepted as a Flydubai pilot.

They also claim that he admitted he “tried to get hired” at several other airlines during his interrogation.

“The dream was to crash into Ben-Gurion Airport,” he added, a source told The Jerusalem Post.