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Hero passengers on Fly Dubai flight speak

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Cite

Gutman, M. (2026, October 4). Hero passengers on Fly Dubai flight speak. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hero-passenger-on-flydubai-flight-i-decided-that-we-are-going-to-survive/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

CBS News · collected 2026-10-04 · by Matt Gutman
Content note This article describes violence described in detail.

Quick Summary

On Wednesday, passengers Daniel Schlichter, Zvika Manes, Tal Samuel, and Asaf Rajuan intervened during a terrifying incident on a FlyDubai flight when the co-pilot from Oman attempted to crash the plane by stabbing the captain. The Boeing 737 Max plummeted 14,000 feet in seconds, with intense G-forces described as being like a roller coaster. The passengers rushed to help the injured pilot and subdued the co-pilot, who had been banned from flying in his home country due to concerns about violent behavior. Israeli investigators found social media posts where he expressed intentions to kill Jews, leading officials in the United Arab Emirates to classify the incident as a "terrorist act."
Written by AI on 2026-10-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 30, 2026, a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv signaled an emergency and was diverted to land at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. The incident initially raised concerns about a possible hijacking, prompting Israel to scramble warplanes. However, Israeli officials later reported that the emergency signals were due to a physical altercation between the plane's two pilots rather than a hijacking attempt.

The flight, identified as Flydubai Flight FZ1073, transmitted multiple emergency alerts after takeoff and over Jordanian airspace before landing safely in Saudi Arabia. Passengers on board managed to overpower the attacker, who was later identified by UAE officials as Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami. Al-Hammami allegedly attempted to crash the plane into Tel Aviv's airport but was stopped by passengers.

UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi stated that signs of al-Hammami’s radicalization first emerged in 2017 while he was studying engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He reportedly became influenced by extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorist organizations during this period.

Written for “Flydubai Hijacker's Radicalization Path” on 2026-11-05, grounded in this article and the 345 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Flydubai Hijacker's Radicalization Path
Crime & Law · 346 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 1 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
Hedges 2 of 39 claims Outlet record 65/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 3 of 15 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 7 of 69 claims Outlet record 61/100
NBC News
Hedges 3 of 37 claims Outlet record 78/100
NPR
Hedges 6 of 48 claims Outlet record 60/100
TIME
Hedges 6 of 44 claims Outlet record 59/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
53
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
2 of 53 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
65/100
CBS News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
346
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

CBS News · 4678 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Matt Gutman
6 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 He weighed less than 5 pounds and had been taken to William Soler Pediatric Hospital in Havana, Cuba, by protective services after being abandoned.
🔮 On the day we visited the William Soler Hospital, we saw this infant being rushed into the intensive care unit.
🔮 Asked whom he will vote for, restaurant owner Benny Abraham replied, "Likud and Bibi Netanyahu."
🔮 "What they couldn't have known was that inside the locked cockpit, was fighting for his life, as he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday: "The co-pilot, he wanted to pray.
2026-10-04 · assertive framing · Hero passengers on Fly Dubai flight speak
🔮 Search and rescue operations were expected to continue Tuesday for 53-year-old , who was raised in Granbury and living in Wyoming.
🔮 A search and rescue operation is expected to continue Tuesday to find the last person missing in flash flooding that hit parts of the Grand Canyon over the weekend — as questions arise about whether people could have been warned sooner.
Also by Matt Gutman
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 6 articles by Matt Gutman →

Topics

737 Max Boeing Israeli Jews Oman

Subjects

Israeli NORP · 4× Manes PERSON · 4× Rajuan PERSON · 3× Tal Samuel PERSON · 3× Machchhar PERSON · 2× Musaev PERSON · 2× Oman GPE · 2× Schlichter PERSON · 2× Daniel Schlichter PERSON · 1× Zvika Manes PERSON · 1×

Narrative

It was the first time hero passengers Daniel Schlichter, Zvika Manes, Tal Samuel and Asaf Rajuan had seen each other since those terrifying moments on "That minute is probably the longest minute of my life," said Schlichter about the plane's terrifying freefall.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-05
🔮 "What they couldn't have known was that inside the locked cockpit, was fighting for his life, as he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday: "The co-pilot, he wanted to pray.
2026-10-05 · CBS News
Hero passengers on Fly Dubai flight speak · assertive framing

Claims (53 extracted, 2 hedged)

It was the first time hero passengers Daniel Schlichter, Zvika Manes, Tal Samuel and Asaf Rajuan had seen each other since those terrifying moments on "That minute is probably the longest minute of my life," said Schlichter about the plane's terrifying freefall. asserted
Schlichter → see → freefall
"And the first thing that went up is actually 9/11. asserted
that → go → ?
And I said, 'How can it be? asserted
it → say → ?
How can we end this life like that?' asserted
we → end → that
You see all your life and you think about what is important. asserted
what → see → life
And just holding my wife's hand and saying, 'If we have to go, we have to go.' asserted
we → hold → hand
Their Boeing 737 Max was nosediving into the Arabian Desert nearly at the speed of sound. asserted
Max → nosedive → sound
The co-pilot from Oman had stabbed the captain, grabbed the controls, and tried to crash the plane full of Israeli passengers. asserted
pilot → stab → passengers
The jet plummeted 14,000 feet in seconds. asserted
jet → plummet → seconds
They were , with G-forces Manes described as being "like a roller coaster. asserted
Manes → describe → coaster
"What they couldn't have known was that inside the locked cockpit, was fighting for his life, as he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday: "The co-pilot, he wanted to pray. asserted
he → know → Saturday
And suddenly there was a big blow to the back of my head," Machchhar said. asserted
Machchhar → be → head
"I did try to stop him, and that's when I gave everything that I had, and just went for the door and opened the door and thankfully people were waiting. asserted
people → try → door
"Manes and his family were sitting in the first row. asserted
"Manes → sit → row
His wife had just taken his daughter to the bathroom. asserted
wife → take → bathroom
"I heard my daughter shouting, 'He's stabbing the pilot. asserted
He → hear → pilot
He's stabbing the pilot.' asserted
He → stab → pilot
She was shouting like animal," he said. asserted
he → shout → animal
At that moment, Rajuan said they thought they were going to die. asserted
they → say → moment
Schlichter, holding his wife's hand, thought to himself, "'If I have to go, I'll hold her hand as tight as possible, and we'll go together.' asserted
we → hold → hand
Almost simultaneously, these passengers decided they had to take action. asserted
they → decide → action
"I saw my daughter and my wife, and I understand that I must run. asserted
I → see → daughter
I turn, switch to an animal switch, and I feel really like an animal. … asserted
I → turn → animal
I decided that we are going to survive, try to survive, to save my family," Manes said. asserted
Manes → decide → family
Tal Samuel said, "Everyone here, on the day-to-day, are super decent and polite people. asserted
Everyone → say → day
But when you watch the situation, you didn't see a finance person, and you didn't see an insurance guy. asserted
you → watch → guy
" Along with an Israeli plumber named Yaniv Hayoun, they ran toward the bleeding captain, whom they called a hero. asserted
they → name → whom
"Not just because he opened the door. asserted
he → open → door
Because he had amazing fight with the terrorist. asserted
he → have → terrorist
He really fight him," said Rajuan. asserted
Rajuan → fight → him
Then, they piled onto the co-pilot, Hamam al Hamami, who we've now learned had been banned from flying in his home country, Oman, because of concerns . asserted
we → pile → concerns
And Israeli investigators say they've uncovered social media posts where he talked about killing Jews. asserted
he → say → Jews
Officials in the United Arab Emirates now say he'd committed a "terrorist act. asserted
he → say → act
""I was jumping on him, punching," said Manes. asserted
Manes → jump → him
"He tried to resist, and we didn't know if he has a knife." asserted
he → try → knife
With a pack of men struggling at the entrance to the cockpit, just then, Tal Samuel looked up and saw the cockpit was empty. asserted
cockpit → struggle → cockpit
He remembered he had been sitting next to two off-duty pilots. asserted
he → remember → pilots
"And the other pilot that came from his seat, because they are blocking the entrance to the cockpit, so that's why he jumped," Samuel said. asserted
Samuel → come → cockpit
According to Rajuan, the pilot leaned over the chair to grab the controls and right the plane. uncertain
pilot → accord → plane
But the captain was bleeding out. asserted
captain → bleed → ?
…and 13 more, not listed.
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