{"id":4795,"date":"2026-10-01T21:08:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T18:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/?p=4795"},"modified":"2026-10-09T19:30:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T16:30:58","slug":"flydubai-flight-passengers-save-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/flydubai-flight-passengers-save-plane\/","title":{"rendered":"Flydubai Flight Saved After Attack: Full Rescue Report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Flydubai
(Left to right) Aircraft Captain Smeet Machhar, passengers Shota Musaev, Yaniv Hayun, Tzvika Mans, and Assaf Rajwan \u2014 heroes of Flight FZ 1073<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Further details have emerged about how more than 180 people were saved aboard a Flydubai<\/a> flight (Flight FZ 1073) traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on the morning of September 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An hour before landing, over Jordanian airspace, the first officer, an Omani citizen, attacked the aircraft’s captain, Indian national Smeet Machhar<\/strong>, with a knife (or, according to another account, an emergency hammer). A fight broke out between the pilots, leaving the captain severely wounded. The attacker then forced the aircraft into a steep dive; within 30 seconds, the airliner plunged roughly 4,000 meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite heavy injuries and slipping in and out of consciousness, the captain managed to unlock the cockpit door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passengers Take Control<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayun<\/strong> was the first to reach the cockpit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met passengers at Ben Gurion Airport, stated that Hayun saved the plane. Hayun was traveling on the flight with his wife and two daughters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayun told Netanyahu: \u201cWe pushed the door. The pilot who had been stabbed was right next to it, so it was very difficult to open, but we managed. When I entered, I saw the attacker at the controls, between the seats. Neither pilot was in their chair: one was on the floor, the other behind the controls. Another person entered with me. I grabbed the attacker\u2014I didn’t choke him, but immediately dragged him outside.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the assailant, Hayun explained: \u201cHe was trying to destroy the instruments to disable the plane. We dragged him out within seconds. The aircraft’s nose was already pointed straight down.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hayun called other passengers for help and returned to the flight deck: \u201cI started pulling the control column back. Fortunately, I had watched the show ‘Air Crash Investigation.’<\/em>\u201d According to him, the aircraft began to level out slightly before an off-duty pilot traveling as a passenger entered the cockpit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to ABC<\/a>, Hayun works as a plumber. The television documentary series Air Crash Investigation<\/em>, which he cited, has aired since 2003 and reconstructs aviation accidents using expert analysis and eyewitness accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Struggle in the Cabin and Rescuing the Captain<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Another passenger who intervened was Tzvika Mans<\/strong>, who helped subdue the first officer alongside three other passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe realized something was wrong when the plane began losing altitude. My wife went to the restroom with our daughter and heard shouting and strange noises coming from the cockpit,<\/em>\u201d Mans said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mans, a physical struggle ensued: \u201cWe fought him for about twenty minutes. Meanwhile, one of us (Yaniv Hayun) ran to the controls and began stabilizing the aircraft as it plunged. We dragged the attacker out, and an off-duty pilot on board entered the cockpit, followed by another. There was a lot of blood; the plane was descending rapidly, like in a horror movie, making sharp screeching noises. It was a terrifying ordeal until the pilot stabilized the aircraft.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mans noted that the attacker deliberately aimed the aircraft toward the ground, throwing passengers across the cabin as they screamed. \u201cLater, we tied him up and restrained him using a headphone cable. It took substantial physical effort\u2014he is a strong man and was likely fueled by adrenaline.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A third passenger, Assaf Rajwan<\/strong>, assisted in restraining the assailant and suffered minor injuries. Together with Tzvika Mans, he pulled the attacker from the cockpit and held him down for roughly 55 minutes until the plane touched down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dentist Shota Musaev<\/strong>, who also took part in subduing the attacker, and a nurse whose identity has not been released treated the captain and saved his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe pilot was severely injured, bleeding heavily from his head and hands. I was the only doctor on board. I managed to stop the bleeding completely. His condition remained relatively stable, though it deteriorated slightly during the final approach and landing,<\/em>\u201d Musaev said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeveral of us acted,<\/em>\u201d he added. \u201cWe subdued the attacker and tied him up. It was difficult, but we managed… In moments like that, you don’t think, you act. If not for that, we would not be speaking right now.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landing the Damaged Jet and the Investigation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Little is known about the two off-duty pilots who took over the controls and landed the aircraft. Flydubai officially identified them as \u201crelief crew,\u201d though their identities and photographs have been withheld for security reasons. They landed the heavily damaged aircraft under extreme conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photographs of the Boeing 737 MAX following its emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, revealed that a significant section of the rudder\u2014the movable part of the vertical stabilizer on the tail\u2014had sheared off completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the first officer forced the aircraft into a dive, excessive speed and aerodynamic stress overwhelmed the tail assembly, causing it to begin breaking apart in midair. Aviation specialists cited by The Guardian noted that it was extraordinary that the airframe stayed intact after pulling out of the dive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspect remains under arrest in Saudi Arabia. Benjamin Netanyahu stated that through international cooperation, the suspect will likely be extradited to United Arab Emirates authorities for formal interrogation and legal proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first officer’s motive remains undisclosed. Security and intelligence agencies across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, and Oman are investigating multiple angles, ranging from acute mental illness to an act of terrorism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Further details have emerged about how more than 180 people were saved aboard a Flydubai flight (Flight FZ 1073) traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on the morning of September 30. An hour before landing, over Jordanian airspace, the first officer, an Omani citizen, attacked the aircraft\u2019s captain, Indian national Smeet Machhar, with a knife [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_newsroomin_seo_keywords":"","_newsroomin_seo_lead_override":"","_newsroomin_disable_ads":false,"_newsroomin_is_archived":"0","_newsroomin_tooltips":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1596],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"tooltips":[],"newsroomin_tooltips":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4795"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4861,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4795\/revisions\/4861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsroomin.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}