00:00I want to invite you and my dear friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
00:05to light a celebratory flame on our next Independent Day.
00:10You are a true hero of the brave peoples of India and Israel,
00:15and you are a hero of the entire world.
00:18I wish you a very speedy and complete recovery.
00:23But tell me, I wanted to ask you, how did it all begin?
00:26Can you tell me how it began?
00:27It was a normal flight, and the co-pilot wanted to pray,
00:42which a lot of locals, they do pray, which is not out of the ordinary.
00:49But while he was praying, out of respect, I was just looking.
00:57I was looking at the front and not at the back.
01:00And suddenly, after, I think I would say about four or five minutes,
01:05there was a big blow to the back of my head.
01:10My first thought was that there was a catastrophic damage to the aircraft,
01:17and something is not right.
01:20But then, after that, the blow kept coming, one after the other.
01:26And that's when I realized that it's not the aircraft,
01:29it's the other guy who was in the cockpit with me.
01:32I did try to stop him, but because of his initial blows,
01:38my vision was almost like nothing.
01:44And I was completely blurred out.
01:47And at that point, the next thought, the next feeling that I had was
01:55that the aircraft was sharply going down.
02:00So, my memory is still in bits and pieces right now.
02:04But this is what I remember out of that time.
02:09And I did try and manage to open the door once,
02:14but I think he shut it back close.
02:19And at this point, I remember I was lying down on the cockpit floor.
02:27And I felt the aircraft and the whooshing sound and people screaming.
02:33And as I was telling the ambassador here,
02:40that I had that one last fight left in me that, you know,
02:45call it personal or call it for people,
02:48but let's say I did it, that if I don't do it, I'm going to die.
02:53And that's when I pushed against everything I gave,
02:56everything that I had, and just went for the door and opened the door.
03:00And thankfully, people were waiting to pounce back,
03:04took over the control, and the rest is what you know, sir.
03:10Well, you know, frankly, I'm amazed at your courage,
03:14at your coolness of judgment under impossible conditions.
03:19And I don't know, how did you, how did you get to pull,
03:23you pull the pin that opens the pilot's door, the cockpit door?
03:28No.
03:29Sir, the door from the inside has a twist to open mechanism.
03:36And from the outside, it cannot, it can be only opened with a cord.
03:40So my colleagues from outside were trying to pitch in the cord,
03:44but the guy was not allowing to open the cord.
03:49And the only way to open the door was to reach the knob,
03:53and like any other knob, just to twist it open,
03:56and it opens on its own.
03:58So there is no pin, but yes, the door,
04:01it was, it was a short, quick twist,
04:05but the point was to reach to that point,
04:08to reach to that place.
04:11And once I had my hand on the knob,
04:14I guess I twisted it, and I opened it.
04:18You know, it's, I guess it's a twist of fate,
04:22and it's a twist of faith.
04:25And what you did is remarkable.
04:29I heard, of course, from the Israeli passengers,
04:33what transpired after that,
04:35and you were a great hero,
04:37and you were accompanied by heroes,
04:39and you saved the day.
04:40You saved so many souls.
04:42I think you saved something bigger.
04:43You saved the spirit of the world
04:45to realize that a brave pilot
04:48and brave passengers can overcome
04:51this evil, however threatening,
04:53however violent.
04:55It's something that is being justly hailed
04:58around the world.
04:59You're a hero of Israel.
05:00You're a hero of India.
05:02You're a hero of the entire world.
05:04And I can tell you that people here
05:06will welcome you with open arms,
05:09as you know, including the dentist,
05:12that just who treated you.
05:14He said, I asked him,
05:15did you ever have to, you know,
05:17it's not pulling teeth exactly.
05:19He said that, he said that you were such a,
05:23you were exceedingly brave,
05:24and I have to say that this is,
05:27borders on the miraculous.
05:30And I...
05:31I would love to meet him as well.
05:32He saved my life, to be honest.
05:35Well, you know, you, together,
05:37you saved so many lives,
05:38and please also pass the best regards
05:41from me and my wife to your wife.
05:44I know you have a family
05:45and know that you're part of our,
05:49the family of nations.
05:51You're part of the family of nations
05:52and a heroic part.
05:54Please get well.
05:56Please get well as soon as you can.
05:59I will, sir.
06:00Thank you.
06:01Thank you.
06:01Prime Minister,
06:02Mr. Ambassador Shelley,
06:04I told him that the next slide
06:05that will come to Israel
06:07is welcome,
06:08he and his wife and his kids,
06:10to your office.
06:11And I think it will be a big celebration.
06:14Indeed.
06:15And again,
06:16I want to have Captain Smith
06:18and Prime Minister Modi,
06:20our great friends,
06:21and I really would like them
06:23to bear a celebratory flame.
06:26It's our highest honor
06:28that we give in our Independence Day.
06:30It's usually reserved for Israeli citizens,
06:33but I think here in this case,
06:36all the citizens of Israel
06:37will embrace you.
06:41They do now,
06:42and they will then too.
06:43So we hope to see you very soon in Israel.
06:46And I look forward to seeing you, sir.
06:49I look forward to seeing you here again.
06:51but under the circumstances,
06:54I think this will be
06:56a memorable and historic visit.
06:58Thank you, sir.
06:59Thank you for everything you did.
07:01Thank you.
07:02Thank you so much, sir.
07:03Thank you.
07:04It was an honor talking to you.
07:05Thank you, sir.
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