Dentist recalls 45 minutes of trying to save Smit Machchhar's life: 'Please don’t sleep, we need you'

Dentist Shota Musaev recounted the 45 minutes of him trying to save Smit Machchhar, whom he said was bleeding profusely from the head and his left hand.

As Indian Captain Smit Machchhar bravely fought off his co-pilot after being stabbed on the flydubai FZ1073 flight to Tel Aviv, a dentist on board helped stop the bleeding.

In a conversation with UAE's The National, 47-year-old Shota Musaev recounted the 45 minutes of him trying to save Machchhar, whom he said was bleeding profusely from the head and the left hand.

“I told him, ‘Please don’t sleep, we need you.’ I asked how many children he had, their names. I kept telling him, 'Don't be afraid, you will go back to your family, we are landing soon,'” Dr Musaev told the UAE daily.

The dentist also said that Machchhar told him he was from India.

‘His pulse was too low, lips turned blue’

Recalling what happened on the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight last week, Musaev said he heard screams and calls for a doctor.

He said he used many T-shirts to press on Machchhar's wounds as he was heavily bleeding from some places, but asked for ice when the cloths didn't help. “He had very, very deep cuts and we needed many ice packets. But every time I opened the T-shirt to check the bleeding, it would bleed more. So I pressed not very hard and with ice. All through the 45 minutes I kept the pressure on," he was quoted as saying.

He also recalled how Machchhar's pulse went too low at one point and lips turned blue. “At one time, his pulse was too low, so I put his feet up and the pulse came back,” Dr Musaev said. “When I saw his lips were blue, I told the steward, ‘We need to land quickly. He doesn’t have much more time’," he was quoted as saying by The National.

Also Read: 'Kill me, kill me': Passengers tell Netanyahu what Omani pilot said after they pinned him down

Smit Machchhar was stabbed mid-flight by his Omani copilot, an incident that was later termed a "terrorist" attack by a UAE official. The co-pilot was identified as Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national, according to multiple news agencies.

‘Help me’: Dentist recalls pilot's words

In an earlier interaction with ABC News, Musaev recalled how Machchhar sought help from him after being stabbed. "Everything will be good," Musaev said he told the pilot as he treated him. "He said to me, 'Help me, please. Help me, please. I don't want to die here.'"

During the same interaction, he also expressed his wish to meet Machchhar again one day and thank him for saving lives despite being injured. "We'll say thank you very much for all," he said.

Also Read: Who is Smit Machchhar? Hero Indian pilot who thwarted alleged flydubai flight crash attempt

According to UAE, Smit Machchhar was hit inside the cockpit with a crash axe as the accused co-pilot tried to take control of the plane. It was only after Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door that passengers were alerted to what was happening, and pinned down the co-pilot.

A crash axe is typically kept in the cockpit for use during emergencies such as crashes.

Smit Machchhar's first remarks after the flydubai incident came in a video call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. He said he could feel the aircraft going down even after he collapsed from his injuries, but was determined to not let the passengers die.

Poorva Joshi is a Senior Content Producer with nearly five years of experience in journalism. She covers Indian politics and geopolitics, with a focus on diplomatic relations, trade negotiations, and economic policy between countries. She has previously worked at India Today, CNN-News18 and India TV. Over the years, she has reported extensively on major national and international developments, including the Air India plane crash, the Pahalgam terror attack, India–US trade tensions, tensions in the Middle East, high-profile crime stories in India, multiple state Assembly elections, and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. She spearheaded the Bihar Assembly elections live blog, which drew over one million users to the Hindustan Times website. Her reporting on India–US tariff and trade tensions has consistently driven strong readership and engagement for the platform. In addition to reporting, she has spent a significant part of her career leading newsroom shifts, ideating stories, editing and fine-tuning copies, and seeing coverage through from planning to publication, alongside writing original articles. At HT, she received the Insta Award for being the top contributor to the HT News Team in November.Read More