When the first reports about a diverted flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv came through on Wednesday, it appeared to have been caused by a tussle between two pilots.
asserted
it → divert → pilots
Early claims even suggested one was Russian and the other Ukrainian.
But, in the age of social media, the true chaos aboard the FlyDubai Flight FZ1073 quickly came to light.
uncertain
chaos → suggest → light
Footage and images sent from the plane by blood-covered passengers showed them overpowering the co-pilot, who it later emerged was an Omani national.
asserted
it → send → pilot
The plane, a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, was carrying over 170 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv when it plunged more than 17,000ft in two minutes as the fight broke out.
asserted
fight → carry → minutes
An emergency alert was sent out and the plane changed course towards Jordan, eventually landing in Saudi Arabia.
asserted
plane → send → Arabia
Aviation experts told the BBC that the rapid descent led to damage pictured on the plane’s rudder adding that the incident could easily have led to the plane breaking up in mid-air.
Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, was identified as the victim of the attack, while his arrested co-pilot was identified as Hamam al-Hammami on Saturday by sources cited in CNN.
uncertain
pilot → tell → CNN
The motive for the incident is still being determined but Netanyahu’s administration suggested early on that it was a suspected terror attack.
uncertain
it → determine → incident
A six-year-old on her way to the toilet accompanied by her mother, was the first to raise the alarm when the pair heard shouting coming from the cockpit, prompting cabin crew to rush to the scene.
asserted
pair → accompany → scene
What they saw was a blood-spattered scene.
asserted
saw → see → What
“There was blood all over the cockpit and very, very sharp fighting moves,” Nina Manes’ mother, Tali Manes told Israel’s Channel 12.
asserted
mother → be → Channel
“I screamed, ‘He’s stabbing the pilot, he’s stabbing the pilot, come help!’
asserted
help → scream → pilot
People looked at me and didn’t understand.”
asserted
People → look → me
Her husband Tzvika Manes said: “The shrieks of my daughters when the plane nose-dived [are still with me].
asserted
plane → say → me
They said, ‘Dad we don’t want to die.’
asserted
we → say → ?
[Their cries] were the triggers that caused me to run inside the cockpit.”
asserted
me → cause → cockpit
One passenger recorded the ordeal on his phone and later shared the footage to social media.
asserted
passenger → record → media
With blood dripping down his face, he declared that the passengers had “subdued the terrorists”.
asserted
passengers → drip → terrorists
“Whoever is hearing me, we need help,” he added.
asserted
he → hear → help
On Saturday, UAE prosecutors said Cpt Machchhar had been attacked by a “crash axe”, a tool kept in the cockpit in case of emergencies, bypassing stringent security protocols.
asserted
Machchhar → say → protocols
Yaniv Hayun, a 50-year-old owner of a sewage plumbing company, was travelling with his wife and two daughters when the incident took place.
asserted
incident → travel → place
In his blood-spattered t-shirt, he was hailed as a hero by Netanyahu who personally thanked him for helping to subdue the attacker and to prevent the plane from crashing.
asserted
who → spatter → plane
Along with Tzvika Manes and Asaf Rajuan, he broke into the cockpit to stop the attacker.
asserted
he → break → attacker
By mimicking gestures he says he’d see on television, Hayun “grabbed the controls and started pulling back the handles”.
asserted
Hayun → mimic → handles
He said he’d learned the techniques from watching Air Crash Investigation.
asserted
he → say → Investigation
He said it took 20 to 25 minutes to fully subdue and bind the pilot and they used cords from headphones linked to the plane’s entertainment system.
asserted
they → say → system
Hayun was helped by a dentist, Dr Shota Musayev, who administered “life-saving medical treatment” to Cpt Machchhar, including treating him for severe wounds to his head and cuts to his fingers.
asserted
who → help → fingers
He helped to successfully stop the bleeding and to stabilise his blood pressure before emergency surgery.
asserted
He → help → surgery
All five are expected to receive Israel’s Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism, president Isaac Herzog said on Thursday.
asserted
Herzog → expect → Thursday
Both pilots have been transferred to the UAE for further investigations and for medical treatment.
asserted
pilots → transfer → treatment
‘Suicidal and indoctrinated’
Netanyahu told Fox News that the attacker was “suicidal” and called out to the crew: “kill me, kill me!” after he was subdued.
asserted
he → indoctrinate → me
“It’s clear he was suicidal, that’s not a question,” he added.
asserted
he → ’ → ?
The Israeli leader said that he had undergone a “Islamist radical indoctrination” and promised to reveal whether he had connections to Iran in the coming days.
asserted
he → say → days
The prime minister said those onboard managed to “prevent a 9/11 disaster, because that's what it looks like was happening”, claiming that the intent may have been to crash the plane.
uncertain
intent → say → plane
A regional official familiar with the FlyDubai investigation told the Associated Press that investigators in Saudi Arabia were working with authorities from the UAE, US, Oman and Israel, and that “all possible scenarios, from terrorism to mental disorders, are being looked into”.
“Nothing is ruled out for now”, the official said.
Al-Hammami was banned from flying last year over concerns that he had radical ideological views, according to Saudi state media.
Two Israeli security officials said that the co-pilot was probably acting alone, according to their initial assessments.
uncertain
pilot → tell → assessments
He was arrested by Saudi security forces after the plane landed in Tabuk, northwest Saudi Arabia, and was being questioned by investigators.
asserted
plane → arrest → investigators
On Saturday, the UAE prosecutor general said that al-Hammami had attempted to carry out a “terrorist” attack, according to the country’s state news agency WAM.
uncertain
Hammami → say → agency
Investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances of the incident, the motives and any related connections, as well as to examine physical and digital evidence, he added.
asserted
he → determine → evidence
Netanyahu said: “It looks very likely that he was going to down the plane …
asserted
he → say → plane
The Islamist tendencies, that radicalisation that are found in his background, I think that’s a pretty good clue.”
asserted
that → find → background
Warnings and questions over security
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Wednesday that politicians had been warned in a national security briefing the night before that Israel’s enemies could attack in the run up to the country’s elections due to take place on 27 October.
uncertain
enemies → say → October
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
