'I grabbed the attacker': Passenger describes how he helped subdue co-pilot suspected of trying to crash plane - National Post
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday met with passenger Yaniv Hayun, who credits his viewing of a Canadian TV show for his knowledge of how to prevent the plane from crashing. Photo by Benjamin Netanyahu/XArticle contentAn Israeli man who was among the passengers who burst into the cockpit of a flight that had been hijacked by the co-pilot and was falling out of the sky on Wednesday described the dramatic rescue in a widely broadcast video interview.
Yaniv Hayun was one of at least four Israelis who helped overpower the co-pilot, who, according to Israeli assessments, tried to crash the aircraft with 174 passengers on board. Flydubai Flight 1073 was en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv when it dropped 17,000 feet in less than two minutes.
Initial assessments indicate it was a foiled terror attack, according to a statement from Israel’s Embassy in Canada.
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Hayun said he believes the captain who had been stabbed by his Omani co-pilot managed to push open the cockpit door before he collapsed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later praised the pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar for his “extraordinary bravery.”
“I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold and pulled him out. I called the Israelis who were with us, jumped back in and pulled the controls. I started pulling them back,” Hayun, his shirt still stained with blood, told Netanyahu in the video interview.
Hayun, who quickly emerged as the hero of the FlyDubai incident, said he knew what to do because he watches Air Crash Investigation, a Canadian television show.
The plane began a sharp descent from 34,000 feet roughly two hours and 20 minutes after takeoff, and briefly entered a nosedive over the desert near the Saudi-Jordanian border. It lost half its altitude in less than two minutes, The Washington Post reported.
Captain Smit Machchhar, the pilot of Flydubai Flight 1073, was praised for his “extraordinary bravery.” Photo by Handout/Israel Foreign MinistryArticle contentHayun, who has an aviation background, said the attacker had been trying to damage the aircraft’s instruments in order to disable the plane.
He believes the wounded captain managed to unlock the cockpit door after he was attacked.
