Israeli Hero Recounts Battle to Stop Flydubai Hijacking: ‘I Grabbed Him, Choked Him’
An Israeli passenger who helped overpower the co-pilot accused of trying to crash a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai jet recounted how he put the attacker in a chokehold before grabbing the controls of the plunging aircraft himself — an extraordinary intervention Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later hailed as heroic.
Joshua Klein30 Sep 20269
6:40
An Israeli passenger who helped overpower the co-pilot accused of trying to crash a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai jet recounted how he put the attacker in a chokehold before grabbing the controls of the plunging aircraft himself — an extraordinary intervention Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later hailed as heroic.
Yaniv Hayun returned safely to Israel with the other 173 passengers Wednesday evening, stepping off the replacement flight at Ben-Gurion Airport still wearing the white shirt stained with blood from the midair struggle aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073.
Israeli officials say the Omani co-pilot stabbed the captain and apparently attempted to crash the aircraft before Hayun and several other passengers fought their way into the cockpit.
https://twitter.com/MaxNordau/status/2105353750860923150“I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and pulled him out,” Hayun said, according to Israeli news outlet Ynet. “I called the Israelis who were with us, jumped back in and pulled the controls. I started pulling them back.”
Hayun, who said he has an aviation background, was among at least four Israeli passengers who intervened as the Boeing 737 carrying 174 passengers, including 27 children, suddenly plunged more than 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.
Hayun said he and another man forced their way through the cockpit door, where the wounded captain had collapsed nearby. Inside, he said, neither pilot was in his seat and the suspected attacker was positioned between them at the aircraft’s controls.
“When I walked in, I saw the attacker on the instruments, between the two seats,” Hayun told Netanyahu. “There were no pilots in the seats.”
Netanyahu asked Hayun what the attacker was doing.
“He was trying to destroy the instruments to… neutralize the aircraft,” Hayun replied, adding that he believed the objective was “to crash the plane.”
Hayun said he put the attacker in a chokehold, dragged him from the cockpit, and called other Israeli passengers forward to restrain him. With the aircraft still nose-down, he rushed back inside.
“I jumped back to the control, pulled the yoke,” Hayun recalled. “I started pulling the yoke.”
Hayun said two other pilots had been traveling as passengers aboard the flight, and one was able to take over after Hayun briefly pulled back on the controls.
https://twitter.com/IsraeliPM/status/2105348407158268390more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/09/30/israeli-hero-recounts-battle-to-stop-flydubai-hijacking-i-grabbed-him-choked-him/
