A gruesome brawl was underway at the front of Flight FZ1073 when one passenger chose to force his way into the cockpit to prevent a disaster.
asserted
passenger → choose → disaster
That passenger, Yaniv Hayoun, is now recognised as a hero who stopped one of the pilots from sending the flydubai Boeing 737 MAX crashing to the ground.
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who → recognise → ground
He did not act alone: several others joined him in a fight that lasted at least 20 minutes to defeat the co-pilot, who is now under arrest over a suspected act of terrorism.
But Hayoun’s account reveals how close things came to a catastrophic mass murder of 174 passengers and crew, almost all of them Jewish.
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all → act → them
“When I went in, I saw the terrorist on the controls, between the two seats.
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I → go → seats
There were no pilots in the seats,” Hayoun said.
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Hayoun → be → seats
“I grabbed the terrorist, put him in a hold, and first of all pulled him outside.”
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I → grab → him
The flight had left Dubai about two hours earlier and was above Saudi Arabia on its way to Tel Aviv.
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flight → leave → Aviv
Israeli authorities say the key suspect, an Omani man working as the co-pilot, had turned on the lead pilot with a knife and begun stabbing him.
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suspect → say → him
Witnesses said the captain, Indian national Smit Machchhar, made a crucial decision that saved the flight.
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that → say → flight
He unlocked the cockpit door before the worst of the wounds took effect.
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worst → unlock → effect
Hayoun described what happened in several accounts including a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the passengers and crew finally made it to Tel Aviv on a second flight.
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passengers → describe → flight
He saw what the pilot with the knife was attempting to do: “He was trying to destroy the controls in order to disable the plane.”
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He → see → plane
The aircraft was racing toward the ground at this point.
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aircraft → race → point
Flight tracking sites, including Flightradar24, show that the plane dropped 14,000 feet (4300 metres) in less than 30 seconds.
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plane → track → seconds
“I jumped back in there, grabbed the controls, started pulling the controls,” Hayoun said in his meeting with Netanyahu.
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Hayoun → jump → Netanyahu
He mimed his action with the controls as he gave his account.
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he → mime → account
How did he know what to do?
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he → know → what
“I watch Mayday,” he said.
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he → watch → Mayday
This is a Canadian television documentary series that examines air crashes, hijackings and bombings.
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that → examine → crashes
Another passenger, Assaf Rajwan, joined Hayoun in confronting the co-pilot.
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passenger → join → pilot
In an interview with Israeli news outlet Channel 12, he said he heard shouting from the cockpit when the plane was in its dive.
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plane → say → dive
“We kept the terrorist neutralised for 55 minutes,” Rajwan said, in an account reported by The Times of Israel.
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Rajwan → keep → Israel
“I can’t believe I was in Thailand a few hours ago on a family vacation.
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I → believe → vacation
“Life is stronger than everything, and we decided to fight for it.”
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we → decide → it
A third passenger, Tzvika Manes, said his wife and young daughter were at the bathroom when the struggle began in the cockpit.
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struggle → say → cockpit
Manes said the captain fell out into the cabin as the co-pilot was stabbing him, while the aircraft was falling rapidly and passengers were thrown about in the turmoil.
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passengers → say → turmoil
Manes described his daughter screaming: “We don’t want to die.”
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We → describe → ?
He moved out of his seat to get to the cockpit.
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He → move → cockpit
He said it took about 20 to 25 minutes for the three men to subdue the co-pilot.
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men → say → pilot
They used headphone cords to tie him up.
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They → use → him
In a video shared by one person on the flight, the captain is covered in blood as some passengers support him and praise him for saving the aircraft from disaster.
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passengers → share → disaster
The co-pilot is seen tied up nearby and apparently unconscious.
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pilot → see → ?
The wall of the cabin is splashed in blood.
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wall → splash → blood
The flight tracking sites show it took another 90 minutes for the aircraft to land at Tabuk Airport in the far west of Saudi Arabia.
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aircraft → show → Arabia
Another stroke of luck saved the passengers and crew.
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stroke → save → passengers
They joined the passengers at the front of the aircraft and took control.
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They → join → control
While these two pilots have not been named, some reports have described them as a South African and a New Zealander.
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reports → name → African
One passenger, Daniel, told Channel 12 that he thought the aircraft would be destroyed in a repeat of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington DC in 2001.
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aircraft → tell → 2001
When the off-duty pilots took over, Daniel said, they kept to the cockpit and focused on securing the aircraft.
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they → take → aircraft
“The pilots locked themselves in the cockpit, and we had no contact with the pilots,” he said.
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he → lock → pilots
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
