A Brit helped save a flight bound for Israel from plunging to the ground after one pilot allegedly stabbed his colleague in a suspected hijacking attempt, a passenger said.
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passenger → help → attempt
Passengers and crew on the Flydubai jet managed to tie up and stop the alleged attacker from what they believe was his attempted suicide mission in crashing the plane.
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they → manage → plane
They then grappled to regain control of the plane - which had dropped from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (10,000m to 5,100m) in around a minute.
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which → grapple → minute
It has since emerged one of those heroes who saved the plane, and the lives of those onboard, was a British off-duty pilot.
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who → emerge → those
One passenger Amol Itali told the BBC: 'There were two pilots in the front, one stabbed the other, and there were two spare pilots who were supposed to operate the next flight.
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who → tell → flight
'The relief pilots are European, one of them British, who entered [the cockpit] and pulled the aircraft up, pulled the yoke, stabilised the plane and landed us in Saudi Arabia
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who → enter → Arabia
The victim, now named as captain Smit Machchhar, was hailed for saving the lives of those 180 passengers on board.
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victim → name → board
While cruising mid-air, the hero was able to fight off his co-pilot in the cockpit and his attempts to sabotage the plane's systems.
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hero → cruise → systems
Distressing footage taken by passengers showed Mr Machchhar with blood dripping from a gash that connected his nose with his forehead.
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that → take → forehead
As he struggled to speak, passengers can be heard praising him as a hero, saying: 'You saved the plane, you did well.'
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you → struggle → plane
Flydubai flight FZ1073, which was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was diverted over Jordanian airspace this morning before landing at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia.
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which → travel → Arabia
Graphic footage filmed by passengers on the flight shows the wounded pilot Smit Machchhar lying on the floor as others tend to him
Mr Machchhar was hailed for saving the lives of those 180 passengers on board.
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Machchhar → film → board
While cruising mid-air, the hero was able to fight off his co-pilot in the cockpit and his attempts to sabotage the plane's systems
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with an Israeli hero who helped prevent the hijacking on the Flydubai plane
It transmitted a general emergency signal using a squawk code – four-digit numbers used for in-flight communication – of 7700 while making a U-turn over the border between the two countries.
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It → cruise → countries
While flying over Saudi Arabia it briefly issued a code of 7500, signalling unlawful interference or a hijacking.
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it → fly → interference
Officials feared the incident could have become another 'September 11' attack, adding passengers had prevented an 'Israeli 9/11' by tying up the assailant.
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passengers → fear → assailant
Israel closed its airspace and scrambled warplanes over fears the jet had been hijacked, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an emergency security meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz.
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Netanyahu → close → Katz
Mr Katz described the incident as 'an attempted jihadist terror attack' that was 'thwarted only thanks to the heroism of several Israeli passengers'.
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that → describe → passengers
One passenger was filmed telling the Israeli PM that the stabbed captain managed to open the cockpit door before collapsing.
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captain → film → door
This allowed the passengers to enter and seize the attacker, as he was attempting to destroy the aircraft systems and crash the plane.
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he → allow → plane
The Israeli PM has since announced that the assailant has now been arrested and is 'currently being questioned by the Saudi authorities'.
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assailant → announce → authorities
He added: 'During the flight, as they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot and, apparently, tried to crash the plane with its passengers on board.
'
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one → add → board
I spoke with one of the Israeli passengers.
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I → speak → passengers
He told me that the plane went into a spin and began to descend.
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plane → tell → spin
He told me that, somehow, he managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members and, together, they overpowered the pilot who had carried out the stabbing while he was attempting to sabotage the aircraft's systems.
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he → tell → systems
Another air crew who was on the plane entered the cockpit and managed to stabilise the aircraft.
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who → enter → aircraft
Passengers from the flight wait at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia after their flight from Dubai to Israel was diverted
Passengers told Israel's Channel 12 that they heard shouts from the front of the jet relating to the altercation between the pilots
'
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they → wait → pilots
I salute these heroes who demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness and courage.
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who → salute → resourcefulness
They saved many lives and prevented a major disaster.'
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They → save → disaster
Footage filmed by passengers showed children and adults on the plane crying out in fright as the jet seemed to veer downwards.
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jet → film → fright
Their terror was backdropped by a growing noise of turbulence, while the cabin rattled around them.
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cabin → backdroppe → them
One woman was seen crouching in the aisle, while others were seen putting their heads by their legs in the brace position.
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others → see → position
Another clip showed passengers panicking on the plane.
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passengers → show → plane
As a handful of passengers went up to the front to investigate, screams were heard across the cabin.
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screams → go → cabin
A member of the cabin crew was heard telling passengers to remain seated and fasten their seatbelts.
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member → hear → seatbelts
One passenger recorded a video with blood over his face, emerging from a gash that stretches from his forehead down to his nose.
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that → record → nose
He said: 'We’re here during the hijacking of an airplane.
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We → say → airplane
At this point we’ve subdued the terrorists, we’re approaching landing.
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we → subdue → landing
Whoever is hearing me, we need help.
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we → hear → help
We’re landing in Tabuk, apparently in Saudi Arabia.
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We → land → Arabia
We need help.'
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We → need → help
…and 37 more, not listed.
The Aporia
