Yaniv Hayoun met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still wearing the bloodstained T-shirt he had on when he wrestled a knife-wielding co-pilot from the cockpit of a plunging flydubai jet.
Hayoun, an Israeli plumber, was among the passengers who rushed the flight deck Wednesday after the first officer allegedly stabbed captain Smit Machchhar and grabbed the controls of the Tel Aviv-bound plane. The aircraft, cruising at roughly 34,000 feet about two-and-a-half hours out of Dubai, dropped some 18,000 feet in two minutes as the co-pilot attacked the control panel, according to Israeli media.
“Someone screamed that there had been a stabbing, and then the plane started losing altitude and control, leaning from one side to another,” Hayoun, who was seated right behind business class, told The Free Press.
Hayoun said the aircraft went into a “steep dive” and passengers “went flying” as he forced his way toward the cockpit. Once inside, he found the first officer still at the controls.
“I jumped back in there, grabbed the controls, started pulling the controls,” he said. Hayoun credited his split-second knowledge of flight controls to the Canadian disaster documentary series “Mayday,” known as “Air Crash Investigations” outside the US, which probes real-world aviation disasters. “At the very least,” he added, “I knew I had to pull the steering levers up to stop the plane from descending any further.”
“The plane started leveling out a little more, and then the pilot told me he was taking over from there,” Hayoun continued.
With the aircraft stabilizing, Hayoun put the alleged attacker in a chokehold. “I grabbed the terrorist, put him in a hold, and pulled him outside,” he recounted to Netanyahu during their meeting. His wife, Meital, described how passengers first used headphones to restrain the co-pilot before finding zip ties to secure him more firmly.
Hayoun and three other Israelis then guarded the restrained first officer while passengers administered first aid to Machchhar, who had been stabbed multiple times. “We kept him alive the entire way,” Hayoun said. Two off-duty pilots who happened to be aboard helped control the aircraft and land it safely in Saudi Arabia.
President Donald Trump highlighted Hayoun’s lack of aviation experience during remarks from the Oval Office on Wednesday. “An Israeli plumber, never flew a plane, was rarely in planes, very rarely flew,” Trump told reporters. “And he saw what was going on and he heard the screaming…he ripped this guy out of the seat, threw him back, the crowd got him, the passengers got him.”
The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, allegedly launched what Israeli officials have characterized as a jihadist terrorist attack. Machchhar managed to alert the cabin and open the cockpit door despite his wounds, allowing Hayoun and others to intervene.
Hayoun described the scene as “complete chaos.” “One of the pilots stabbed another pilot. He tried to crash us. When it leveled out a little, just a little, we managed to get back up,” he told The Free Press. “I managed to open the cockpit door with the help of another crewmember. We physically fought with the co-pilot, he was going wild. I put him in a chokehold, took control of him, and dragged him out of the cockpit.”
After the emergency landing, Hayoun joined fellow passengers on a rescue flight back to Israel. Upon arrival, still covered in blood, he was greeted by Netanyahu. Photographs showed the two men sharing a distance hug to avoid staining the prime minister’s shirt.
Netanyahu hailed Hayoun and the other intervening passengers as heroes who “saved many lives and displayed great bravery.” “They prevented a serious tragedy,” he said.
“It’s a miracle that we’re alive,” Meital Hayoun said. “We’re incredibly emotional to finally be back in Israel.” Machchhar’s current condition remains unknown.
