Netanyahu invites Indian FlyDubai captain to 'Israel'

• Netanyahu invited Indian copilot Sumeet Matchar to visit 'Israel' as a "guest of honor" for thwarting the flydubai mid-air attack.
• He proposed that Matchar join PM Narendra Modi to torch a beacon during 'Israel's' alleged national day ceremonies next May.
• The 'Israeli' PMO released video footage of Netanyahu hailing Matchar as a hero for India, 'Israel', and the world.
• Investigators confirmed the copilot planned a terror attack with an emergency axe.
• Matchar allegedly recounted unlocking the cockpit door despite a 17,000-foot plunge.

'Israeli' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday invited the Indian captain of a flydubai flight to visit 'Israel' as a "guest of honor," praising him as a "hero" for preventing an alleged planned "terrorist attack" by his copilot during a commercial flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu said that he desires Captain Sumeet Matchar and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to jointly ignite a beacon at 'Israel's' alleged national day official ceremony in May.

The 'Israeli' Prime Minister's Office published a video recording of a phone call between Netanyahu and the hospitalized pilot.

"You are a true hero for the brave people of India and 'Israel', and a hero for the entire world," Netanyahu told Matchar during the call.

UAE investigation 

The invitation follows an announcement made earlier Saturday by the UAE Attorney General, stating that preliminary investigations revealed the copilot had planned to execute a "terrorist attack" using an emergency axe to assault the captain. Authorities noted that the attacker's motives remain unknown.

Addressing the incident publicly for the first time on Friday during a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Matchar explained that his actions were driven by a desire to protect the passengers aboard.

"I was trying to save my life, but I knew I couldn't let all these people [the passengers] die," Matchar told Modi in a video shared by the Indian Prime Minister.

Matchar detailed how he managed to unlock the cockpit door despite sustaining multiple physical injuries during the assault:

"I had suffered a number of injuries that caused me to collapse. Then, I felt the plane dropping. I knew this was the last attempt, and that the [cockpit] door was close to me... I was still being beaten, but I opened the door, and everyone came in."

Passengers described a sudden, sharp loss of altitude during the flight, with data from tracking platform Flightradar24 indicating the aircraft plunged 17,000 feet within a single minute before control was restored.