India, Oct. 2 -- Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who helped avert a major tragedy after being stabbed by his co-pilot aboard a Dubai-Tel Aviv flydubai flight, recalled the terrifying moments of the mid-air crisis to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Machchhar said he could feel the aircraft going down even after he collapsed from his injuries.

Seriously wounded and fighting for his life, Machchhar said his years of flying experience told him that the aircraft was in a dangerous descent. He then made "one last push" to reach and open the cockpit door, despite continuing to be hit.

"I was trying to save my own life, but I knew I could not let all those people die," Machchhar told Modi during a video call from his hospital b...