Flydubai passenger describes putting attacker in chokehold after cockpit stabbing
Passengers on a Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv intervened to subdue a pilot who stabbed his colleague and attempted to disable the aircraft mid-flight. The plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, and the attacker is currently in custody while the injured pilot remains in stable condition.
Why it matters
The incident highlights critical vulnerabilities in aviation security and cockpit safety protocols, prompting international concern regarding potential terror-related threats in commercial air travel.
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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