‘Incredible story’: Trump praises Israeli plumber for preventing plane crash

“It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job,” Trump said.

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump praised an Israeli passenger who helped stop an alleged attempt to crash a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, recounting how the plumber forced his way into the cockpit, overpowered the attacking co-pilot and briefly took the controls as the aircraft plunged thousands of feet.

Trump said Wednesday that he had spoken “at length” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the extraordinary incident aboard Flight FZ1073, which was carrying 174 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv when violence erupted in the cockpit.

The president did not say definitively whether the incident was a terrorist attack, speculating that the assailant might be mentally ill.

“It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job,” Trump told reporters.

The co-pilot, an Omani national, allegedly stabbed Indian captain Smit Machchhar and attempted to interfere with the aircraft’s controls as the Boeing 737 entered a steep descent.

Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft losing nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds at one stage of the emergency.

The flight subsequently transmitted the 7500 transponder code used internationally to indicate unlawful interference aboard an aircraft.

Trump credited Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayun, a plumber who was seated toward the front of the aircraft, with helping prevent the situation from becoming a catastrophe.

“An Israeli plumber saw what was happening,” Trump said, adding that Hayun heard screaming coming from the cockpit as the plane began rapidly descending.

Hayun and other passengers moved toward the cockpit after the injured captain managed to unlock its reinforced door.

Trump said the wounded captain’s ability to open the door despite his injuries proved critical.

“In a way, he was a hero,” Trump said.

Once inside, Hayun found the co-pilot near the aircraft’s controls.

Hayun later described the confrontation during a meeting with Netanyahu after returning to Israel.

“I grabbed the terrorist, choked him, and pulled him away from there,” Hayun said. He said the co-pilot appeared to be attempting to damage equipment between the pilots’ seats while the aircraft’s nose was pointed downward.

Other passengers joined Hayun and helped restrain the co-pilot.

“Having never flown a plane, he took the stick, lifted it up, and leveled out the plane before it crashed,” Trump said.

“I think it’s an incredible story,” he added.

Hayun told Netanyahu that after the attacker had been subdued, he returned to the controls and began pulling back in an attempt to stop the descent.

Asked how he knew what to do, Hayun gave an unusual explanation: “I watch Mayday, Mr. Prime Minister — really!”

The television documentary series reconstructs aviation accidents and explains how pilots and aircraft systems respond during emergencies.

Hayun said an alternate pilot subsequently entered the cockpit and took control.

Israeli authorities are treating the incident as a terrorist attack, although investigators have not yet publicly established the suspect’s motive.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said that a 9/11-style attack on Israel had been prevented, amid reports that Israeli security officials suspect the co-pilot planned to crash the plane into a building inside Israel.