JERUSALEM (AP) — A dentist and other passengers wrestled with a violent copilot.
asserted
dentist → wrestle → copilot
A plumber seized the controls of the plane as it plunged toward the desert.
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it → seize → desert
And that’s after the captain managed to open the cockpit door while being stabbed, helping to save all 174 people on board the Israel-bound flight.
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captain → ’ → flight
As the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, put it: “Hollywood isn’t creative enough to come up with stories like this!”
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Hollywood → put → this
While major questions remained unanswered Thursday about the attacker and his motivation, the tale of everyday heroes saving the FlyDubai flight from disaster quickly became legend.
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tale → remain → disaster
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warmly embraced the plumber shortly after the passengers’ arrival in Tel Aviv late Wednesday, and later posted a five-star review for Yaniv Hayoun’s professional services, calling him “a hero who has saved many lives.”
“He can help you too — I highly recommend him!” Netanyahu added on X.
Hayoun was among several Israelis recommended for the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism, while Indian Capt. Smit Machchhar was praised by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “a HERO.”
One met the prime minister wearing a bloody shirt
Many of the details emerged in a rush shortly after the passengers, most of them Israeli, landed back home to cheers and waving flags.
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most → embrace → cheers
Hayoun, apologizing for his bloody shirt, within minutes was telling the prime minister and journalists what happened.
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what → apologize → minister
There had been little time for him and the others to think.
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him → think → ?
Passengers screamed after spotting the copilot stabbing the captain, and the flight from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv began a steep dive.
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flight → scream → dive
Some believed they were about to die.
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they → believe → ?
A handful of Israelis reacted, hurtling up the aisle after the badly wounded captain managed to open the cockpit door.
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captain → react → door
That was crucial, as cockpit doors are typically locked to prevent hijackings.
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doors → lock → hijackings
They had to struggle, Hayoun said, with the captain’s body resting against it.
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body → have → it
The plumber seized the controls, just like in the movies
Hayoun said the copilot appeared to be trying to damage the plane’s controls.
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copilot → seize → controls
He grabbed the copilot, and others began struggling with the man.
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others → grab → man
Hayoun then tackled the controls.
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Hayoun → tackle → controls
He had no training, but he remembered what he had seen in movies.
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he → have → movies
“I asked him, how did you know how to do that?
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you → ask → that
And he said, ‘Well, I, I watched these air disaster films,’” Netanyahu told Fox News on Thursday.
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Netanyahu → say → Thursday
It was not clear who among the passengers had security experience, though military service is compulsory for most men and women in Israel.
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service → have → Israel
Soon, crew who had been traveling on the plane stepped in to stabilize it, issuing a mayday call and seeking a place to land.
“He managed to stabilize the plane by the skin of his teeth,” another Israeli praised for intervening, Asaf Rajuan, told journalists.
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Israeli → travel → journalists
experts have marveled that the plane didn’t crash after a descent so sharp that the rudder was torn away.
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rudder → marvel → descent
A dentist treated the wounded pilot
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dentist → treat → pilot
The handful of Israeli passengers grappled with the copilot for several minutes before subduing him and binding his hands with the cord from a set of headphones.
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handful → grapple → headphones
One of them, Dr. Shota Musayev, a dentist, also attended to the captain, who appeared to have lost a lot of blood.
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who → attend → blood
“He was just praying the whole time and was in contact with me, and I was afraid we would really lose him,” Musayev said.
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Musayev → pray → him
In video that Musayev shot and shared with The Associated Press, the captain lay on the floor of the cabin, saying his head was in pain.
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head → shoot → pain
Musayev later told journalists he and the other responders knew they’d had just seconds to act before a “critical event.”
But even with the copilot bound and subdued, they were scared that other attackers might be on the plane.
uncertain
attackers → tell → plane
They sent other people around the cabin to stand by.
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They → send → cabin
“We didn’t know where we were going to land.
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we → know → ?
We were afraid that they were taking us to a hostile country,” Rajuan said.
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Rajuan → take → country
“We didn’t know who to trust.
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We → know → who
We didn’t know if the pilot was with us or not …
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pilot → know → us
We started suspecting the flight attendants, too.”
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We → start → attendants
Finally, just about an hour after the plane issued a distress call, it made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
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it → issue → Arabia
Now, investigators from across the region are working to understand what led to the attack.
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what → work → attack
The copilot still has not been publicly identified.
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copilot → identify → ?
As of Thursday evening, the world had not yet heard from the central hero, the captain, who India’s Embassy in the United Arab Emirates said was “in good health and recovering well.”
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Embassy → hear → health
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Associated Press reporter Areej Hazboun in Jerusalem contributed.
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Hazboun → contribute → Jerusalem
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This version restores comments that an earlier version mistakenly said were Hayoun’s.
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version → restore → comments
The Aporia
