A plumber who put an attacker in a chokehold and a dentist who gave life-saving first aid to a seriously injured pilot on board a Flydubai flight amid a suspected hijacking attempt, were among four people being recommended for Israel’s presidential award.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog said he will recommend Yaniv Hayoun, Tzvika Manes, and Asaf Rajuan for the country’s Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism for entering the cockpit of flight FZ1073 and subduing the co-pilot accused of stabbing pilot Smit Machchhar.
Dr Shota Musayev is also being recommended for providing lifesaving medical treatment to the bleeding Indian pilot.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu hugged plumber Yaniv Hayoun at the Ben Gurion airport and praised him for his extraordinary bravery in tackling the alleged hijacker on the flight with 173 passengers on board. Mr Hayoun was still wearing his bloodstained shirt.
Mr Hayoun was on board the Tel Aviv-bound flight on Wednesday when the aircraft suddenly plummeted 17,000ft in less than two minutes.
Mr Hayoun said he and the other passengers knew an attack was underway "because a woman screamed 'stabbing' and the plane shook hard".
Israeli officials said the Omani co-pilot of the Boeing 737 plane is believed to have stabbed Cpt Smit Machchhar, in a possible attempted ”terror attack”.
He, along with Mr Manes, Mr Musayev, and Mr Rajuan, helped overpower the attacker.
Mr Hayoun said the group tried to push open the cockpit door, but the injured pilot was very close to it. However, the injured captain managed to open the door of the cockpit before collapsing.
“I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold and pulled him out. I called the Israelis who were with us, jumped back in and pulled the controls. I started pulling them (the controls) back," Mr Hayoun recalled to Mr Netanyahu.
"I straightened the plane out a bit and then the pilot ... I saw two unmanned yokes with no pilots. The plane began to level out, and then the pilot told me he was taking control," he added. He was referring to an off-duty British pilot who helped land the passenger flight in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Hayoun told Mr Netanyahu that he knew what to do from watching a flight investigation TV programme. "I knew I had to pull," he added.
“Air Crash Investigation” is a dramatised series that reconstructs real-life aviation disasters, combining expert analysis and eyewitness accounts to examine how the crashes unfolded.
Mr Hayoun told the prime minister that the alleged hijacker was "trying to destroy the controls in order to disable the plane".
Dentist Shota Musayev, who was involved in restraining the alleged attacker, said he ran towards the cockpit after hearing shouting, then helped bind the attacker and treated the bleeding captain.
Dr Musayev told CNN that they found the suspect on top of the pilot, stabbing him.
“He was covered in cuts – his head, his hands – he had lost a lot of blood and was in bad shape," he recalled.
The pilot was rushed to the hospital for surgery after the flight landed in Saudi Arabia.
Dr Musayev said he was the only doctor on the plane and eventually "managed to stop the bleeding and stabilise his blood pressure".
“I think that if we had waited even a few more moments, we would have lost him; his blood pressure had plummeted, he suddenly lost consciousness, and there was blood everywhere,” he said.
“These were very hard moments, but together with a few brave people on the plane, we managed to avert a situation that was very close to a disaster,” he added. “Now I just want to go home and hug my children.” Dr Musayev was reportedly returning from China.
Asaf Rajuan told Channel 12 that the group kept the suspect "neutralised for 55 minutes" till the flight landed safely. He said the experience “was just [like] in the movies".
"I didn’t think something like this could happen in real life. It was a case of to be or not to be,” he added. Mr Rajuan was on a family holiday in Thailand just hours before.
“Life is stronger than everything, and we decided to fight for it,” he told the Times of Israel.
“It’s hard for me to believe that it ended the way it did… I’m very happy to be here.”
Passenger Yasmin Abu Kasis recalled that her daughter saw a man with a knife put the pilot on the floor, "with blood everywhere". "The plane started to lose control, so all the people were screaming."
Saudi Arabia authorities arrested the suspect on the tarmac immediately after touchdown.
Mr Hayoun and the other passengers were welcomed by Mr Netanyahu when he returned to Tel Aviv later on Wednesday evening.
“The swift action of the passengers and crew averted a major disaster,” Mr Herzog said.
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