A Stabbed Captain and His Passengers Saved 170-Plus Lives
The wounded captain held the door open and screamed for help, and an Israeli plumber and off-duty pilots rushed the cockpit.
All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg · Trump's Super Intelligence Summit, AI Safety Accord, GDP Beats, Midterm PredictionsThe captain did not want to leave the cockpit. Suspicious of his co-pilot, he asked for a urinary bag he could use at his seat rather than step out to the bathroom.
That decision may have saved everyone on board. As he used the bag, the co-pilot attacked him, stabbing him and trying to seize the airplane and crash it.
Bleeding, the captain fought back. He managed to get the cockpit door open and screamed for help to the cabin behind him.
This is the story of the Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv carrying 174 passengers that did not become another 9/11 style disaster, because a wounded pilot held on long enough for ordinary travelers to reach him, and because the right travelers happened to be there.
Several passengers rushed forward when they heard him. They stormed the small cockpit, pulled the attacker off the captain, and dragged him out into the cabin.
One of the men who yanked the attacker out was an Israeli plumber, a working plumber traveling as a passenger. One speaker guessed the flight's passengers were likely all Israeli.
With him were three or four other passengers, and, by extraordinary luck, off-duty pilots who were also on board as travelers.
The off-duty pilots got into the cockpit, leveled the plane, and landed it safely. Eyewitness accounts spread quickly after the landing in Saudi Arabia, when passengers got internet access and began describing what had happened.
It was, in the retelling, a close and bloody fight, then a rush of strangers into the cockpit to save 170-some lives.
It ended with an airliner on the ground, its captain alive and its passengers alive, because a wounded captain held the door, a plumber pulled the attacker out, and off-duty pilots landed the plane.
Questions people ask
What is Flydubai, and why was it flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv?
Flydubai is a government-owned low cost airline based in Dubai. It began flying nonstop between Dubai and Tel Aviv after the Abraham Accords normalized relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel in 2020, and the route regularly carries Israeli tourists and business travelers.
Why would off-duty pilots be sitting among the passengers?
Airline pilots often travel as passengers when commuting to work, returning home, or repositioning for their next assignment. They sometimes identify themselves to the crew, which means they can be asked to help in an emergency, as happened here.
Why did the plane land in Saudi Arabia?
Pilots in a medical and security emergency will land at the nearest suitable airport. Once on the ground in Saudi Arabia, passengers regained phone service and began posting eyewitness accounts.