Israeli Passengers Overpower Hijacker on flydubai Flight, Averting Disaster
A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv triggered a severe security crisis after a hijacking attempt over Saudi airspace. Israeli passengers bravely overpowered the attacker in the cockpit, averting a potential 9/11-style disaster.
The dramatic minutes when a flydubai flight vanished from radar screens ranked among the most severe security crises Israel has faced in recent years. The moment the aircraft transmitted squawk 7500—the international code for hijacking—and then disappeared from radar over Saudi airspace, Israeli authorities understood that an unprecedented historical event was unfolding.
Immediate security consultations convened to discuss the worst-case scenario: a hijacked plane carrying some 170 passengers, mostly Israelis returning home, plunging not into the Saudi desert, but hurtling toward Israeli airspace to carry out a 9/11-style suicide attack.
A deliberate collision with a crowded skyscraper in central Tel Aviv, a packed stadium, or a government building would turn the 170 passengers into secondary casualties, while hundreds or thousands more could perish on the ground.
An Impossible Decision
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced a grim dilemma: whether to order the scrambled air force jets to shoot down a commercial airliner carrying Israelis—parents, children, entire families—to prevent a far greater catastrophe on the ground, or to risk the plane crashing into an Israeli city.
The flight, carrying 174 passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv, turned critical when screams erupted from the cockpit, followed by a pilot stabbing, a steep dive, and a fierce struggle that prompted four Israeli passengers to intervene.
Passengers Overpower Attacker
Yaniv Hayon, Asaf Rajoan, Zvika Metz, and dentist Shota Mosayev rushed forward. Hayon dragged the attacker from the cockpit and tried to stabilize the aircraft, while Rajoan and Metz subdued and bound the assailant with headphone cords. Mosayev treated the severely wounded captain.
Prime Minister Netanyahu later praised the Indian captain, Smith Machatsar, for his exceptional bravery, noting that despite being severely wounded, he managed to keep the cockpit door open, enabling passengers to intervene and prevent a catastrophic disaster.
