A passenger hailed as a hero after a mid-air cockpit attack on a Flydubai flight has said he grabbed the controls and pulled the aircraft out of a steep dive, joking that watching the TV series 'Air Crash Investigation' helped him react.
Passenger's account of the dive
Yaniv Hayoun, one of several people praised for their actions on board, said he stopped the jet's nose-dive by taking the controls. According to posts on X, he later joked: "Good thing I watched 'Air Crash Investigation.'"
Senior journalist Amit Segal quoted him saying: "I pulled back on the controls and stopped the plane's dive. Good thing I watched 'Air Crash Investigation.'" Another journalist, Amichai Stein, shared a similar account, writing that Hayoun said: "I pulled the yoke up and stopped the plane's dive. It's lucky I had some aviation experience from @MaydayAirCrash series."
Incident on Flight FZ1073
The incident unfolded on the morning of Wednesday, September 30, on Flydubai Flight FZ1073. Reports said the co-pilot, identified as an Omani national, stabbed the captain and then tried to crash the plane, sending it into a sudden descent.
The aircraft reportedly dropped as much as 17,000 feet in under two minutes, sparking panic in the cabin. The wounded captain, identified as Indian national Smit Machchhar, is said to have unlocked the cockpit door before collapsing.
Hayoun, along with other passengers and off-duty crew members on board, rushed forward and fought to take back control of the cockpit. Accounts on X claim the attacker was restrained in a chokehold and pinned down while the aircraft was still in a steep nose-dive.
Safe landing in Saudi Arabia
As the jet continued to plunge, Hayoun reached for the controls and pulled back, helping to level the aircraft out long enough for other trained pilots travelling as passengers to take over. The plane was later landed safely in Saudi Arabia, with around 180 people on board.
Hayoun's explanation for his split-second reaction was that watching the long-running TV series about air disasters gave him the instinct to do the one thing that could stop the dive.
