Flydubai passengers: ‘We were sure it was the end … only the Israelis intervened’

A passenger recounted subduing the Omani co-pilot: “We jumped forcefully on the pilot and tied him up with headphones.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Passengers aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv that nearly crashed after an Omani co-pilot stabbed the captain told N12 that Israeli passengers helped overpower the attacker as the aircraft plunged toward the ground.

“There were moments when we were sure it was the end,” one passenger told N12. “We heard shouting and screaming, and then we saw the cockpit being opened and there was blood there. We understood that a person who was on the plane had stabbed the pilot with a pocketknife.”

During the emergency, the aircraft descended at more than 14,000 feet per minute, or nearly 4,300 meters per minute. It had been about 36 minutes from landing in Israel.

Another passenger described the effort to restrain the co-pilot: “We jumped forcefully on the pilot and tied him up with headphones.”

Noa, another passenger, credited the Israeli passengers with intervening. “Only the Israelis intervened. There are people here with shirts covered in blood.”

“It was very stressful. We understood that the pilot had been stabbed and the plane simply started plunging. There was panic here, but it’s OK, we landed and now everything is OK,” she said.

Noa said the aircraft began moving from side to side after the stabbing and passengers realized the pilots had lost control.

Another passenger said Israeli passengers and crew members “jumped on the pilot” and overpowered him as those aboard prayed.

“During the entire incident we prayed and said ‘Shema Yisrael.’ The plane made an emergency landing, and only after we landed did we truly understand what we had been through,” she said.

It has not been confirmed whether the Omani co-pilot acted from a “nationalistic” motive or whether his actions were related to mental illness, although many in Israel are treating the incident as a suspected terrorist attack.

A senior Israeli official told N12: “A major disaster was averted. Indications are growing that the pilot wanted to take control of the plane and crash it with the passengers.”

Ido Shaiovitz said passengers had no contact with Israeli officials before landing in Saudi Arabia and were initially left waiting there, including children sleeping on the floor.

Israeli passengers later began boarding another flydubai aircraft expected to take them to Israel.