Flydubai passenger describes putting attacker in chokehold after cockpit stabbing
A Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted after a pilot allegedly stabbed his colleague and attempted to disable the aircraft. Passengers intervened, subduing the attacker and helping to stabilize the plane until other pilots could take control.
Why it matters
This rare and dangerous mid-air incident highlights the critical role of passenger intervention and the vulnerability of cockpit security.
Passengers on a flight to Israel have recounted how they subdued a pilot after he stabbed the other pilot and appeared to be trying to disable the plane, while others described the "terrifying" moment they thought they would die.
Appearing in a bloodstained shirt after the ordeal, Yaniv Hayun told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he realised something was wrong when the aircraft suddenly dropped.
The plane, en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv, plummeted 17,000ft (5,200m) in less than two minutes.
"Someone screamed... the light went out," Hayun said in a video posted by the prime minister on social media.
He and others tried to push open the cockpit door, but the pilot who had been stabbed was very close to it, so it was hard to open. Before he collapsed, the injured pilot managed to open the door.
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