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Grandfather who had never flown a plane reveals unexpected way he saved Flydubai jet plunging 14,000ft as terrifying footage emerges
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A passenger on a Flydubai aircraft that was narrowly avoided disaster on Wednesday (September 30) revealed how he helped save everyone on board when one of the pilots was stabbed mid-flight.
The plane was bound for Tel Aviv, Israel, after setting off from Dubai, UAE, when it suddenly dropped in altitude before making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Videos of the incident have gone viral online, with passengers heard and seen panicking as the cabin shook while the plane nosedived.
The commercial flight was carrying dozens of passengers when a physical fight broke out inside the cockpit between the two pilots.
It's been alleged that the co-pilot 'tried to do 9-11' as, around 90 minutes into the journey, the plane transmitted a Squawk code of 7700, indicating a general emergency.
This would soon be switched to code 7500, the international signal for unlawful interference or a potential hijacking.
Luckily, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft was brought under control after the sudden dive, before landing at Tabuk Regional Airport.
Grandfather reveals he took control of the aircraft
After the pilot allegedly stabbed his co-pilot with a knife and tried to hijack the plane, passengers bravely subdued the pilot, say Israeli officials.
One of them, Yanic Hayoun, was identified as a key part of the operation, helping to regain control of the aircraft despite having no flying experience.
The Israeli sewage truck driver has been pictured wearing a blood-stained white T-shirt on board, and shared how he managed to get to the cockpit.
He revealed to the Daily Mail that he put the pilot in a headlock to stop him from getting to the controls, explaining: "About an hour before landing, a woman started shouting,
"At the front of the aircraft, a woman started screaming something about stabbing: 'He’s stabbing him, he’s stabbing him.'"
He then made his way to the cockpit, where the cries for help were coming from, but the plane nose-dived as he approached.
Passengers could be seen covered in blood in the aftermath of the attack, as Hayoun added: "It lasted several seconds.
"I don’t know exactly how many seconds it was, but they say we lost 14,000 or 15,000 feet in less than a minute — the aircraft lost that altitude. It was enormous."
After feeling shocked, he focused and continued, saying: "I opened the door - I pushed the door while he was holding the handle. I pushed it open and went inside.
"On the floor, right beside the door, was the pilot. He was lying there. He was very seriously injured.
"There was no pilot in the pilot’s seat. One pilot was lying beside the door, seriously injured but conscious. His eyes were open. Between the two seats are the aircraft’s controls."
Hayoun recalled the sight in the cockpit
He said that he saw the attacker with his knees on the controls, trying to 'interfere with the instruments'.
Hayoun explained: "He was leaning forward toward the aircraft’s controls. So I grabbed him by the throat,
"I pushed him out toward the exit and started shouting for people to come and help because he was resisting."
He said that three other Israelis came to his aid, with all of them allegedly delivering blows.
Hayoun then turned to the controls, adding: "I leaned over the seat, reached forward with my hands and pulled the controls toward me because the aircraft was pointing downward.
"I pulled the controls back toward me. It was only for a few seconds."
Hayoun credits plane crash documentaries for his knowledge
"There’s a programme called Air Crash Investigation," he began, explaining: "The images are frightening and they make my wife afraid of flying, so I watch it secretly when she isn’t watching with me.
"I saw on it that when an aircraft is going downward, you have to bring the controls back — pull them backward — to bring the nose level. It really was only for a few seconds. It wasn’t as though I flew the plane.
"What I had seen became useful to me in the only attempt I’ve ever had in my life to survive. It was one shot – one opportunity," he claimed.
Hayoun also credited a Flydubai pilot, Smit Machchhar, who was on board, with helping him.
"A pilot from the same airline, Flydubai, was there. He came to me – he was in the cockpit – and in English he told me, 'You can let go. You can leave it. I’m taking over from here,'" he recalled.
"Otherwise we would have been in trouble. I would have had to land it, and I don’t know how that would have ended," the grandfather said.
He continued guarding the cockpit as a doctor treated the wounded pilot, stating: "I said to the pilot: 'Look at me.' I told him: 'Nobody will die today.'"
When they did arrive at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, he was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who embraced him.