Flydubai Captain Recounts Foiling Co-pilot's Axe Attack

The captain of a Flydubai flight has described how he fought off his co-pilot's attack with an emergency axe, shouting for help as he tried to reach the cockpit door handle. The captain was hailed a hero for his role in preventing a disaster on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv last month. The UAE Public Prosecution described the incident as a "pre-planned terrorist plot aimed at taking control of the plane and using it for a suicide attack on Ben Gurion Airport's passenger terminal in Tel Aviv."

Speaking from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi, with his head and left arm bandaged, the captain told The National newspaper that his first thought upon being struck was that something had "critically damaged the aircraft's structure." He quickly realized he was under attack and that the situation had "taken a dangerous turn." His immediate priority, he said, was to "ask for help." He freed himself from his seatbelt and tried to fend off the blows, sustaining injuries to his arm as he defended himself. "The blows kept coming at my head," he recounted, reaching for the door handle and shouting for his colleagues and the attacker's name. He believes he lost consciousness at one point.

The aircraft, flight FZ1073, was in Saudi airspace when the co-pilot attacked the captain with the axe kept in the cockpit for emergencies. The assault caused the plane to descend 4,900 meters in 30 seconds before the attacker was subdued. Two other pilots on board then safely landed the plane in Saudi Arabia. The suspect, an Omani national, was taken to the UAE, Flydubai's home base. The UAE Public Prosecution stated that the co-pilot was inspired by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, based on a criminal investigation that began October 1. The captain heard the cockpit door open and shouting between his colleagues and the attacker. He was most afraid of the plane's steep nose-down descent, admitting he was "not entirely sure I would survive this situation alive."