Flydubai captain recounts blocking axe blows to his head while his co-pilot allegedly tried to crash the Tel Aviv flight

Captain Smit Machchhar spoke from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi, bandaged across his head and left arm, recounting how he threw himself toward the cockpit door knob while calling out to colleagues. Flight FZ1073 plunged 16,000 feet in just 30 seconds over Saudi airspace. UAE prosecutors allege the plan to strike Ben Gurion Airport was modelled on the 9/11 attacks.

The suspect, an Omani national, has been transferred to the UAE, the home jurisdiction of flydubai.

Two other pilots aboard overpowered the attacker and brought the aircraft down safely in Saudi Arabia.

Machchhar initially thought the plane had suffered a 'horribly wrong' structural failure.