NEW DELHI: Sonal Machchhar, wife of Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar, recalled the horrifying moment she learnt about the mid-air attack on her husband aboard a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, saying she was “very devastated” and did not have the immediate “mental capacity” to comprehend the crisis.In a conversation with a news channel, Sonal described being overcome with shock after hearing the news, news agency ANI reported.“I was very devastated. And I didn’t have the mental capacity (to know) how I should react,” she said.She said the presence of friends and family, along with updates from Indian authorities, offered her reassurance during the ordeal.“But as I had my friends and family around me, I was reassured that everything is okay. And very soon, I started getting news that he is stable,” she said.Sonal met her husband on Thursday at a hospital in Abu Dhabi, which helped ease her concerns about his condition, ANI reported.Reflecting on the meeting, she said, “I met him on Thursday, and that gives me reassurance that he is in the right hands, very good care, under the good care of UAE doctors, military doctors.”Sonal said her immediate focus was on helping her husband recover. “And I’m just hoping that he comes back home soon, and I’m going to do whatever it takes for his recovery,” she said.Asked about reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to speak with Captain Machchhar, Sonal said the conversation should take place directly between them once her husband has recovered sufficiently, ANI reported.“I will not be able to talk to Mr Netanyahu. I think Smit is the right person; he should answer to Mr Netanyahu,” she said, adding that “he will definitely talk to him once he is in the right frame of mind.”Earlier on Friday, Captain Machchhar spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone and recalled the moments after he collapsed on the floor following the attack.He said his 17 years of flying experience helped him realise that the aircraft was going down.The captain said that while he was consciously telling himself that he was acting for his own survival, he knew deep down that he could not allow the passengers to die.The Prime Minister praised Machchhar’s courage, patience and presence of mind and said his actions had made the country proud, ANI reported.The September 30 security crisis involved a flydubai flight operating from Dubai to Tel Aviv, where the Omani co-pilot allegedly stabbed the commander in an apparent terror-driven attempt to bring down the plane.The confrontation triggered a steep descent, with the aircraft dropping approximately 16,000 feet within two minutes before a hijacking distress signal was transmitted.Despite sustaining severe injuries, Captain Machchhar resisted the assailant.Flight crew members and passengers then breached the flight deck and restrained the attacker, allowing the crew to regain control of the aircraft.The plane subsequently made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where all 180 occupants disembarked safely, ANI reported.The captain managed to repel the co-pilot sufficiently to unlatch the cockpit entry, while two non-duty aviators on board assumed control of the aircraft for its emergency landing in Tabuk.The identity of the co-pilot has not been publicly disclosed.The co-pilot was transferred to the UAE after his arrest.Israeli investigative personnel have also been sent to the UAE to join the locally led inquiry and help determine whether outside parties orchestrated the attack.(With agency inputs)
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