Flydubai captain describes co-pilot's axe attack and saving 170 passengers

The flydubai pilot who stopped a plane from crashing blocked repeated axe blows to his head before opening the cockpit door and screaming out for help.

Captain Smit Machchhar told The National newspaper from his hospital bed that during the attack he struggled to stay conscious after being hit in the back of his head.

He said before he realised he had been struck by the co-pilot, he was worried there had been damage to the roof of the aircraft that had more than 170 passengers onboard.

"There was a moment that I realised, and I told myself that, Smit, do something," he said.

He calmed himself, and said: "You can't die like this."

Mr Machchhar said he regained his composure, but his vision was restricted.

"I was not able to see something, [but] at that point, I realised what's going on," he said.

"The first action that I wanted to do was to, to guard myself from the further hits."

Once he began guarding himself the next thought he had was getting out of the cockpit and calling for help.

"My immediate action was to free myself from the seatbelts and I tried to just block the blows as much as I could," he said.

"My hand went to the knob which opens the door and screaming for my colleagues, screaming his name.

"I believe that was the first time when I lost my consciousness."

After Mr Machchhar was able to free himself, the scene outside was completely different.

"I remember being face down. And of course, the panic which was there, the screaming which was there."

The co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami has been accused by Emirati authorities of trying to take control of the plane with the intention of crashing it into Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, in a "suicide attack".

UAE authorities allege the 29-year-old suspect was radicalised while studying in Melbourne, claims Australian authorities have not verified.

The aircraft was in Saudi airspace when the co-pilot attacked Mr Machchhar with a crash axe, which is typically kept in the cockpit for emergencies.

During the incident the aircraft to fell 4,900 metres in 30 seconds before Mr al-Hammami was stopped by two other pilots also on the plane.

Mr Machchhar has been hailed as a hero after he was able to open the cockpit door allowing passengers to restrain the attacker.

But he has made sure to share the praise.

"My other colleague who took over the controls and saved the day again is commendable," he said.

The plane safely landed in Saudia Arabia where Mr al-Hammami was transferred into the custody of Emirati authorities.

But before that, Mr Machchhar said the scariest thing he felt during the ordeal was nose of the aircraft "steeply going down".

ABC/Wires