Flydubai passenger describes placing attacker in chokehold after cockpit stabbing

Passengers on a flight to Israel have recounted how they subdued a pilot after he stabbed the opposite pilot and gave the impression to be making an attempt to disable the aircraft, whereas others described the “terrifying” second they thought they’d die.

Appearing in a bloodstained shirt after the ordeal, Yaniv Hayun informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he realised one thing was improper when the plane immediately dropped.

The aircraft, en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv, plummeted 17,000ft (5,200m) in lower than two minutes.

“Someone screamed… the sunshine went out,” Hayun mentioned in a video posted by the prime minister on social media.

He and others tried to push open the cockpit door, however the pilot who had been stabbed was very near it, so it was exhausting to open. Before he collapsed, the injured pilot managed to open the door.

When Hayun and one other man entered the cockpit, he mentioned he noticed one pilot down and the attacker on the devices, between the 2 seats, “making an attempt to destroy the devices so as to…disable the aircraft”.

“I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and pulled him – initially – outdoors,” Hayun mentioned.

“We pulled him out; it was a matter of seconds. I referred to as out to the Israeli guys with us on the aircraft – I referred to as them, and two different guys came visiting to me… we pinned [the attacker] right down to hold him safe.”