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1 outlets · filed 2 October 2026

'I was not going to let others die' - pilot of Flydubai flight describes cockpit attack by co-pilot

This story is from the archive. It was covered between 2 October 2026 and 2 October 2026, and nothing below has been updated since. See what is happening now.

Capt Smit Machchhar tells Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi he opened the cockpit door to let others in during the attack.

What the coverage shows

All five outlets focus on the pilot’s account of the cockpit attack and on him being described as a hero for helping prevent further danger. The Guardian US and BBC News both foreground his comments to Narendra Modi, while Channel 4 News is the only one to mention the flight as Israel-bound. The Independent alone adds the detail that the flight plunged more than 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.

Written by Crossfiled from the 1 headlines and extracts below, not from the articles themselves. It describes how the outlets framed this, not what happened. Open any headline for a summary of that article.

BBC News

How it broke

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