‘Stabbed Indian pilot opened cockpit door, we pinned attacker down’, passenger tells Netanyahu what happened on flydubai flight

Appearing in a bloodstained shirt after the ordeal, Israeli flydubai passenger Yaniv Hayoun met Benjamin Netanyahu and recounted the events.

An Israeli passenger aboard a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv claimed to have strangled the co-pilot and pulled him out of the cockpit after the ‘terrorist’ allegedly stabbed the captain and sent the plane into a sudden plunge on Wednesday.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) meeting a man named Yaniv, describing him as one of the passengers who managed to break into the flydubai aircraft's cockpit, at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Lod on September 30. (AFP)

Yaniv Hayun told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he and other passengers intervened after the injured captain, Indian national Smit Machchhar, opened the cockpit door. Hayun and fellow passengers then stormed the pilot's cabin and overpowered the alleged attacker, who was allegedly trying to destroy the aircraft's controls and disable the plane. Track live updates

Appearing in a bloodstained shirt after the ordeal, Yaniv Hayoun met Netanyahu and recounted the events. “I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and pulled him - first and foremost - outside,” he said in a video posted by the Israeli PM on X, according to Hebrew to English translation by BBC.

Deep Dive

What actions did passenger Yaniv Hayun take during the flydubai flight incident?

Why did the flydubai flight experience a sudden drop in altitude?

How did passengers manage to stabilize the flydubai aircraft after the attack?

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“We pulled him out; it was a matter of seconds. I called out to the Israeli guys with us on the plane - I called them, and two other guys came over to me... we pinned [the attacker] down to keep him secure.”

Earlier, Netanyahu also credited the Indian pilot for fighting the copilot and opening the cockpit door to let the passengers and crew to overpower the attacker.

Flydubai flight FZ1073, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, suddenly lost thousands of feet while flying over the region. The Boeing 737 eventually diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, where it made a safe emergency landing.

What happened on flydubai flight FZ1073

Hayun said he realised something was wrong when the aircraft suddenly dropped. “Someone screamed... the light went out,” he said in a video posted by Netanyahu on social media.

Passengers tried to open the cockpit door but found it difficult because Machchhar, who had been injured, was close to it. Hayun said Machchhar managed to open the door before collapsing.

When Hayun and another passenger entered the cockpit, he said he saw one pilot down and the alleged attacker between the two seats, apparently attempting to interfere with the aircraft's controls.

“He was trying to destroy the instruments in order to...disable the plane,” Hayun said. After pulling the alleged attacker out of the cockpit, Hayun said he returned to the controls.

“I started pulling the controls,” he told Netanyahu. When Netanyahu asked whether he knew what he was doing, Hayun replied, “I watch Air Crash Investigation, Mr Prime Minister.”

Hayun said the aircraft then began to level out. Two other flydubai pilots who had been travelling in the passenger cabin subsequently moved to the cockpit, and one of them took control of the aircraft.

Plane plunged thousands of feet

The aircraft had been cruising at about 34,000 feet when it began a rapid descent. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft falling to around 17,000 feet. One analysis of publicly available flight data found that the plane dropped from 33,225 feet to 18,925 feet between two readings 37 seconds apart.

The aircraft later climbed again before descending a second time and eventually stabilising at a lower altitude. The flight also transmitted emergency signals, including the ‘squawk 7500’ code associated with “unlawful interference”. The emergency transmission initially led to concerns that the aircraft had been hijacked.

Israeli authorities reportedly scrambled fighter jets amid the initial scare. A spokesperson for Netanyahu's office later said the incident was not believed to be a hijacking.

Captain Smit Machchhar injured

Machchhar, the Indian captain of the flight, was taken to hospital after the aircraft landed in Tabuk. He underwent treatment and was reported to be in stable condition.

Netanyahu praised Machchhar as a “true hero” and highlighted his actions after he was attacked.

Passengers helped restrain alleged attacker

Hayun was not the only passenger who intervened. Another passenger, Zvika Meness, told Israeli public broadcaster Kan that he helped overpower the alleged attacker.

Meness said he and two others “tied him up with his own zip ties and with the multimedia headphones”. “Another pilot who was sitting in the passenger cabin went in to replace the additional pilot, and they essentially landed the plane,” he added.

Israel calls it terror attack

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz described the incident as an “attempted jihadist terror attack”.

Israel's national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also described the incident as terrorism and said the alleged attacker wanted to crash the plane and kill all 180 on board.

“The grave incident on the flydubai plane was a jihadist terrorist attack attempt, which was thwarted only thanks to the bravery of several Israeli passengers who broke into the cockpit, overpowered the terrorist and, with their own hands, restored control of the plane to another flight crew who was present there,” Katz said, as per the Times of Israel.

“According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist had one intention: to crash the plane with all its passengers,” he added.

Flydubai suspends Israel flights

Flydubai will temporarily suspend flights to and from Israel while the investigation into the mid-air incident continues, an airline spokesperson said, according to CNN.

The airline has operated flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv since late 2020.