Indian flydubai captain Smit Machchhar knew he had to act quickly after an alleged in-flight attack by his co-pilot, opening the cockpit door in a “last push” to get help and avert disaster, he said Friday.

“I was trying to save my own life, but I knew I could not let all those people die,” Machchhar said during a call from his hospital bed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a video posted by the leader on social media.

The Boeing 737 flight to Tel Aviv, operated by Dubai-based flydubai, was carrying 174 passengers when the altercation took place on Wednesday.

Machchhar, who has 17 years of aviation experience — 11 as a captain — described the moment he realised the plane was going down while he was lying injured.

“I had suffered so many injuries that I had collapsed. At that time, I could feel that the aircraft was going down. I knew this was the last push, that the door was right there,” he said.

“I was being hit even then, but I just opened the door and everyone came in.”

Machchhar told Modi that during the ordeal, he had recited a Hindu devotional prayer dedicated to the deity Hanuman.

“I know God himself saved me,” he said.

Machchhar said years of aviation experience allowed him to understand what was happening even while he was injured.

The circumstances of the confrontation are under investigation.