Plumber helped subdue flight attacker, pull plane out of dive
A man who said he was among a group of passengers who subdued an attacker on a flight to Tel Aviv and took control of the plane after a stabbing in the cockpit is speaking out about the incident.
Yaniv Hayun, who works as a plumber, told reporters Wednesday he and the other passengers knew there was an attack occurring "because a woman screamed 'stabbing' and the plane shook hard."
Hayun and a group of other passengers aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073 were able to get into the cockpit after an unidentified pilot stabbed the co-pilot, Capt. Smit Machchhar and took control of the plane, Israeli officials said.
The suspect allegedly plummeted the plane in an attempt to crash it and kill everyone aboard, Israeli investigators said.
Hayun said he placed the attacker in a chokehold and pulled him out. And then he quickly went for the plane's controls and briefly flew the plane.
He said he knew what to do after watching a TV show.
"I pulled up the yoke (steering control of the plane), I straightened the plane out a bit and then the pilot ... I saw two unmanned yokes with no pilots and I've watched this (TV) program, 'Flight Investigation,' and I knew I had to pull," Hayun said.
The show, "Air Crash Investigation," is a dramatized reconstruction of real-life air disasters that features interviews with aviation experts and eyewitnesses, according to IMDb.
The third pilot flew it to Saudi Arabia, where the plane landed and the passengers disembarked. Capt. Machchhar was being treated for his injuries and the suspect is in custody, officials said.
Hayun and the other passengers were welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he returned to Israel later in the evening,
The prime minister posted a video of meeting Hayun, who still had blood on his shirt from the encounter.
