Israeli Passengers Thwart Hijacking Attempt on Flydubai Flight

Tzvika Mans, CEO and controlling shareholder of Barak Leumi Underwriting, recounted harrowing moments on a Flydubai flight where the quick thinking of Israeli passengers prevented a disaster. Mans and his family were returning from a trip to Japan when the incident occurred. His youngest daughter, aged six, and wife heard noises from the cockpit while returning from the restroom, just as the plane began to dive. The pilot opened the cockpit door, allowing passengers to intervene. "It was a matter of seconds, the plane began to dive," Mans stated. The aircraft lost altitude rapidly, with passengers thrown about as if in a movie. During the chaos, an Israeli passenger named Yaniv "ran and jumped on the hijacker," Mans described. Other crew members seemed overwhelmed, and a trainee pilot in the cabin was reportedly in shock. Mans, along with another passenger, Assaf Radwan, joined the struggle in the cockpit and helped subdue the hijacker. "We took control of the hijacker. It took time to handcuff him," Mans said. After neutralizing the threat, passengers remained concerned about the crew's potential involvement and requested assistance from other passengers. Mans explained that the immediate motivation for their actions was to protect their families, especially hearing his three daughters, the eldest being 11, screaming in terror. "You hear your daughters... screaming their lungs out that they don't want to die and you run," he recalled.