India, Oct. 4 -- In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, October 3, FlyDubai Captain Smit Machchhar described how his co-pilot attacked him mid-flight, moments after asking to pray in the cockpit.

Machchhar, an Indian national, told Netanyahu that his co-pilot had stood up to pray, something he said was routine during flights, and that he turned away out of respect. A few minutes later, he felt a blow to the back of his head. The blows kept coming after that, he said, describing them as landing "one after the other."

Netanyahu told Machchhar he was amazed at his courage and composure under what he called impossible conditions. "You saved so many souls... You saved the spirit of the world," Netanyahu s...