Flydubai Mid-Air Crisis: Passenger Says ‘Mayday’ Documentary Helped Him Handle Controls

TEL AVIV: An Israeli passenger caught in the dramatic cockpit emergency aboard a flydubai flight has described how knowledge picked up from a Canadian aviation documentary helped him react when the aircraft began losing altitude rapidly after a confrontation between the pilots.

Yaniv Hayun, one of three Israeli passengers who helped restrain the alleged attacker, recounted the incident during a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His account offered a remarkable glimpse into the moments when passengers found themselves having to assist the flight crew.

According to The Times of Israel, Hayun said he and another passenger forced their way toward the cockpit after the disturbance. Inside, they found Captain Smit Machchhar injured near the cockpit entrance.

The situation became even more critical when the aircraft began tilting and losing control.

Hayun said he moved back towards the controls and pulled on them in an attempt to help stabilise the aircraft.

He told Netanyahu that his familiarity with aviation emergencies came from watching “Mayday,” the Canadian documentary series that investigates real-world aircraft crashes, hijackings, bombings and other aviation disasters.

That experience, he suggested, gave him a basic understanding of how to respond when the aircraft began behaving abnormally.

Hayun said the aircraft gradually began to level out before the pilot indicated that he was ready to resume control. The passenger also alleged that the co-pilot had attempted to interfere with or damage the aircraft’s controls.

Aircraft plunges during cockpit confrontation.

The incident occurred aboard a flydubai Boeing 737 MAX operating a scheduled service from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

The aircraft declared an emergency while flying over the region, initially prompting concerns that a hijacking could be underway.

The aircraft subsequently diverted and headed towards Saudi Arabia, eventually landing safely in Tabuk.

What initially appeared to authorities as a possible hijacking was later linked to a physical confrontation inside the cockpit involving the two pilots.

The circumstances surrounding the confrontation, including its cause and the actions of those involved, remain under investigation.

Flight-tracking information showed a dramatic fall in altitude during the emergency. The aircraft reportedly dropped from about 34,000 feet to approximately 16,600 feet in a little over two minutes while flying over northwestern Saudi Arabia.

For passengers, the sudden descent was accompanied by confusion and alarm. Passengers interviewed by Israel’s Channel 12 said they heard shouting from the forward section of the aircraft after people became aware of the disturbance in the cockpit.

The aircraft also appeared to dip sharply before the crew managed to stabilise it and divert it to Saudi Arabia.

Passengers became part of the emergency response.

The account has highlighted the extraordinary circumstances faced by passengers when the cockpit crew themselves became involved in a physical confrontation.

Hayun was among three Israeli passengers who reportedly entered the cockpit area and helped subdue the alleged attacker. Their intervention came while the aircraft was descending and the flight crew was dealing with injuries.

Other accounts have said additional pilots were travelling aboard the aircraft and subsequently assisted in bringing the plane under control. The different passenger and official accounts are now expected to form part of the investigation into the incident.

The flight’s emergency declaration initially triggered heightened security concerns because of the possibility of an attempted hijacking.

The later understanding that the emergency arose from a confrontation between the pilots changed the nature of the investigation.

The aircraft’s safe landing in Saudi Arabia brought the immediate crisis to an end, but questions remain over what prompted the cockpit confrontation, how the alleged attack unfolded and how the aircraft’s controls were affected.

Hayun’s account has also drawn attention to an unusual source of emergency knowledge: a television programme about aviation disasters.

A documentary series intended to explain past crashes and aviation emergencies, he said, proved useful at a moment when passengers suddenly found themselves confronting a potentially catastrophic situation.

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