Israeli Passengers Recount Crew Demands After Subduing Attacking Pilot

Israeli passengers who subdued a Flydubai co-pilot after he attempted to crash the plane described a confrontation with the flight crew immediately after the incident. According to the passengers, the flight attendants demanded they release the co-pilot, Hammam al-Hamami, who had attacked the captain with an axe. The passengers refused and insisted the crew members stay away from the cockpit. Two passengers, Tzvika Manes and Daniel Shlichter, shared their account on October 3rd in an interview with the New York Post, as cited by Ynet.

On September 30th, businessman Tzvika Manes was returning from a family vacation in Japan with his wife and three daughters when the incident occurred on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Co-pilot Hammam al-Hamami, an Omani national, suddenly attacked the Indian captain, Smith Machchar, with an emergency axe. As the captain fell, al-Hamami put the plane into a dive, attempting to crash it. The severely injured captain managed to get up and unlock the cockpit door. Four Israeli passengers, banker Tzvika Manes, plumber Yaniv Hayun, insurance agent Assaf Radjuan, and dentist Shota Musaev, rushed into the cockpit and subdued the attacker. They tied his hands with headphone wires collected by Daniel Shlichter and held him face down. Yaniv Hayun then managed to pull the control column and stabilize the aircraft.

Following the stabilization, several flight attendants demanded the passengers release the co-pilot, leading to an argument. Three Israelis refused, stating they would not release the attacker under any circumstances. "They asked us to untie the terrorist, we had no idea why," said Tzvika Manes, identified as the head of a banking company. Daniel Shlichter, a real estate specialist seated near the cockpit, added, "We immediately began to suspect them." Manes recalled the crew saying, "You are not God, you will not kill him." He explained, "We didn't want to kill him, we just wanted him not to kill us." Both passengers stated they gave the injured al-Hamami an oxygen mask, wanting him to survive for interrogation. Shlichter, 59, who was also returning from Japan, noted, "We wanted him to stay alive so he could be interrogated."

A struggle for control ensued, with the crew insisting they were in charge and only stewards should be in the area before the cockpit. However, the Israelis, fearing the crew might be complicit, ordered the flight attendants away from the cockpit to seats in the middle of the cabin. "We told them: 'The order now is: we are in charge here, and you do what we say,'" Manes recounted. A group of passengers, including Shlichter, escorted the crew members to seats in the fifth or sixth row and ordered them to sit. Manes mentioned that three Israelis then asked a "big guy" among the passengers to guard the cockpit and prevent anyone from entering. By this time, relief pilots seated in the rear of the plane had entered the cockpit and taken control.

After the crew members were seated, they "finally understood that this was a special case," Shlichter said. The stewards then began assisting the shaken passengers with blankets and water. No charges of conspiracy with the Omani co-pilot have been filed against the crew. When asked about the crew's behavior, Flydubai stated they could not comment on ongoing investigations, adding they were cooperating fully with authorities.

Manes described staying with the "terrorist" until they landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after which he reassured his daughters. He recounted that after landing, panic attacks and crying ensued among passengers. Many refused to fly Flydubai again until Mossad officials confirmed the pilots had been vetted. Manes, a self-described "ordinary financier," reflected on the life-or-death struggle, driven by his daughters' cries. He described the co-pilot's violent resistance and the passengers' actions as a "fight or flight" reaction, emphasizing they were ordinary people trying to save their families. Manes reported being covered in bruises and experiencing extreme G-forces. Shlichter admitted he was prepared to die during the plane's dive, recalling the moment as the longest minute of his life and thinking of 9/11 and his family. Both passengers expressed astonishment at the improbable chain of events that led to everyone's survival, with Shlichter calling it a statistical impossibility and Manes attributing it to divine intervention.