Flydubai Passenger Yaniv Hayun Says Air Crash Investigation Helped Him Stabilize Diving Flight FZ1073
By Robeka Irfan — SCN News
NES ZIONA, Israel — An Israeli passenger who helped overpower the co-pilot accused of attacking the captain aboard flydubai Flight FZ1073 says an unlikely source helped him react when he returned to the cockpit and found the aircraft still descending: years of watching a television series about air disasters.
Yaniv Hayun, 50, said he pulled back on the aircraft's controls after helping remove the alleged attacker from the cockpit, briefly helping stabilize the jet before trained flydubai pilots traveling aboard the flight took command. His account provides new detail about the sequence of actions that unfolded inside the cockpit during Wednesday's emergency, when the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight plunged thousands of feet before diverting safely to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia with 174 people aboard.
Hayun was traveling with his wife and two daughters when passengers became aware that something was wrong near the cockpit. He said a woman shouted that there had been a stabbing as the aircraft began shaking, prompting him and other passengers to rush forward. Inside, they found Indian captain Smit Machchhar seriously wounded and the co-pilot near the aircraft's controls.
Machchhar, despite suffering stab wounds, had managed to activate the cockpit-door release before collapsing, according to accounts from Israeli officials and passengers. That action gave passengers and crew access to a flight deck that would normally remain secured during flight. Hayun said he entered with another passenger, grabbed the alleged attacker in a chokehold and pulled him away from the controls while others helped restrain him.
The aircraft was still in a steep descent when Hayun returned to the cockpit. With neither of the original pilots controlling the aircraft at that moment, he said he grabbed the controls and pulled back, an action he believed would help bring the nose upward. The plane began to level before another qualified pilot aboard told him he was taking over, according to Hayun's account.
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later asked how he knew what to do, Hayun pointed to the long-running documentary series “Air Crash Investigation,” also known in some markets as “Mayday.” The program reconstructs aviation accidents and emergencies using investigations, cockpit information and expert analysis. Hayun's explanation quickly became one of the most unusual details to emerge from an incident that had initially been reported primarily as an alleged attempt to sabotage or crash the aircraft.
Hayun's intervention was only one part of a broader response involving passengers, crew members and pilots who happened to be traveling aboard FZ1073. Two flydubai pilots aboard as passengers subsequently took control, while the airline has said crew traveling on the flight secured the aircraft, diverted it and landed safely in Saudi Arabia. That distinction is important because Hayun helped stabilize the aircraft during the emergency but did not fly the jet through its diversion and landing.
Other passengers have now described how the suspected attacker was restrained after being removed from the cockpit. Tzvika Manes, an Israeli banking executive aboard the flight, said passengers used airline headphones as improvised restraints while others assisted in keeping the man under control. A doctor aboard the aircraft, Shota Musaev, helped treat the wounded captain while also assisting passengers during the confrontation.
The accounts are providing a clearer picture of how several independent actions combined during a rapidly developing emergency. Machchhar's ability to release the cockpit door created access for the passengers; Hayun and others removed and restrained the alleged attacker; Hayun briefly intervened at the controls; and qualified flydubai personnel ultimately assumed command and brought the aircraft safely into Tabuk.
Flight-tracking information showed FZ1073 losing altitude rapidly during the crisis, underscoring how little time those aboard had to respond. The precise sequence and timing remain part of an official investigation, and flydubai has cautioned against speculation about the motive behind the cockpit confrontation until authorities complete their inquiry.
Saudi authorities detained the co-pilot after the emergency landing. Israeli officials have said they believe he was attempting to sabotage or crash the aircraft, but the motive has not been publicly established by investigators. The airline has confirmed an altercation on the flight deck and the subsequent diversion while avoiding conclusions about why the incident occurred.
Machchhar remained under medical care in Saudi Arabia after suffering serious injuries. Indian officials have been in contact with his family and Saudi authorities, while both Indian and Israeli leaders have praised his actions after accounts emerged that he used his remaining strength to release the cockpit door.
Hayun and the other passengers returned to Israel on a replacement flight, where Netanyahu met several of those involved at Ben Gurion Airport. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Thursday that Hayun and other passengers involved in stopping the alleged attacker would be nominated for the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism.
Hayun has resisted portraying himself as the sole person responsible for saving the aircraft, while other passengers have similarly described their actions as instinctive responses to an immediate threat to their families and everyone aboard. Their accounts increasingly show that the survival of FZ1073 was not the result of a single dramatic act but a chain of interventions involving an injured captain, passengers, medical assistance and trained pilots.
The television detail has nevertheless made Hayun's role stand out. What he had absorbed from watching reconstructions of aviation disasters was never a substitute for pilot training, but during the short interval before a qualified pilot could take control, Hayun says it gave him enough understanding to make one consequential decision: pull back as the aircraft was diving.