A six-year-old girl and her mother played a crucial role in stopping an alleged attempted hijacking on a FlyDubai flight bound for Israel, it has been revealed. Nina Manes, along with her mother Tali and father Tzika, was on board the plane heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
Little Nina had asked to go to the bathroom with her mum just before the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain in an attempt to take control of the aircraft. Tali then heard suspicious noises coming from the cockpit. “There was blood all over the cockpit and very, very sharp fighting moves,” she told Israeli Channel 12.
Mother's screams for help
“I screamed, ‘He is stabbing the pilot, he is stabbing the pilot, come help!’ People looked at me and didn’t understand,” Tali said. Nina’s father, Tzvika, then rushed to grab his daughter from the bathroom. He said: “The shrieks of my daughters when the plane nosedived [are still with me]. They said, ‘Dad we don’t want to die.’ [Their cries] were the triggers that caused me to run inside the cockpit.”
The flight descended from 33,000ft to 17,000ft in about a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk, according to Flightradar24. The site identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737 Max 8.
Dentist saves captain's life
Video shot inside the plane by Shota Musayev, a dentist who treated the captain, shows the copilot on his knees, with his hands tied behind his back. Tzvika continued: “We asked if there was a doctor on the plane, there was a dentist actually… He saved the life of the Indian captain, gave him oxygen, stopped his bleeding with blankets and all kinds of equipment that was in the area.”
Captain Smit Machchhar, widely praised as one of the heroes of the flight, is reportedly in a stable condition in hospital following the incident.
Investigation and response
According to a regional official briefed on the investigation, the suspect is an Omani citizen. They have said the individual was under arrest and confirmed that Saudi authorities were working with countries, including Israel, to try to determine a motive. He said the UAE, the United States and Oman were also involved. “All possible scenarios, from terrorism to mental disorders, are being looked into. Nothing is ruled out for now,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Israeli intelligence and security officials were in Saudi Arabia to help the investigation. Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said the attacker underwent Islamist indoctrination - but did not give further details. Israel has requested that the copilot be sent to Israel for the investigation, though it is unclear if that request will be granted, the official said.
Saudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel, but the countries have long co-operated on security and intelligence matters through alternative channels. The UAE government said its own investigation team had begun looking into the attack and “whether it was linked to any terrorist purpose”, noting its authorities have jurisdiction because the plane is registered there and UAE law applies to crimes committed on board.
Asked if there is any indication of Iranian involvement, Mr Netanyahu told Fox News “it’s too early to say”. Asaf Rajuan, who was among those who intervened, said in a statement shared by Israel’s presidency: “We felt helpless, suspended in mid-air, and I didn’t know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive.”
