A wounded pilot, four passengers, and a cockpit thrown into chaos. That was the extraordinary chain of events aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 after an attack left the aircraft in a dangerous descent.
The Boeing 737 MAX was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv when Indian pilot Smit Machchhar was reportedly attacked by his Omani co-pilot. Despite suffering serious injuries, Machchhar managed to alert the cabin crew, while passengers rushed toward the cockpit as the aircraft struggled to remain under control.
Among those who intervened were a plumber, an insurance executive, a senior banker, and a dentist. Their roles were different, but their actions unfolded around the same emergency: restraining the attacker, helping stabilize the aircraft, and treating the injured pilot.
The flight was eventually diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where Machchhar was taken to a hospital.
What happened aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073?
According to accounts from passengers and Israeli officials, the crisis began when Machchhar was attacked inside the cockpit.
The pilot suffered deep injuries and significant blood loss but was reportedly able to open the cockpit door and alert people outside. By then, passengers in the cabin had realized that something was seriously wrong.
Several passengers moved toward the cockpit and confronted the attacker. Their accounts describe a rapidly descending aircraft, passengers being thrown around the cabin and a struggle to regain control of the situation.
The details of the incident have largely emerged through passenger interviews and statements from Israeli officials. Those accounts provide a picture of the emergency, although a full independent investigation is needed to establish the precise sequence of events.
Yaniv Hayun: The plumber who reached the controls
Yaniv Hayun was among the first passengers to enter the cockpit.
Hayun said he found the attacker between the pilot’s seats and pulled him away. He then realized that the aircraft itself needed immediate attention.
According to Hayun’s account, he pulled on the aircraft’s controls in an attempt to help level the plane. He later said his familiarity with aviation-disaster television programs gave him some understanding of what he was seeing.
“I watch Mayday,” Hayun said, referring to the aviation documentary series.
His account has since attracted considerable attention because he was not a trained pilot. In the middle of an unfolding emergency, he attempted to help stabilize the aircraft while other passengers dealt with the attacker.
A video released by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office later showed Hayun meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the passengers returned to Israel.
Assaf Rajuan: The businessman who joined the struggle
Assaf Rajuan was traveling back from Thailand when the flight suddenly became a life-threatening emergency.
Rajuan described hearing screams and realizing that the aircraft appeared to be descending sharply. Passengers were reportedly being thrown around the cabin as the situation deteriorated.
When Rajuan reached the cockpit, he encountered blood and several people already struggling with the attacker.
He joined the effort to restrain the man, working alongside other passengers while the crew attempted to deal with the consequences of the attack and bring the aircraft toward an emergency landing.
His account highlights how quickly ordinary passengers were forced into roles they could never have anticipated when they boarded the flight.
Zvika Manes: The banker who helped restrain the attacker
Zvika Manes, a senior banking executive, was another passenger who entered the cockpit during the crisis.
Manes described a terrifying descent in which passengers struggled to remain upright. According to his account, the attacker appeared to be attempting to direct the aircraft toward the ground.
Once the passengers overpowered him, they needed to prevent him from regaining control.
Manes said the group used cables from the aircraft’s multimedia headphones to restrain the attacker. The passengers and crew then kept him restrained while the aircraft continued toward Saudi Arabia.
“There was a lot of blood,” Manes recalled while describing the cockpit.
His account, like those of the other passengers, illustrates the extraordinary uncertainty inside the aircraft during those critical minutes.
Shota Musaev: The dentist who treated the wounded pilot
Shota Musaev initially went toward the cockpit to help confront the attacker.
But once the attacker had been restrained, Musaev’s professional background became crucial. A dentist by profession, he turned his attention to Machchhar, who had suffered serious injuries.
Musaev said the pilot had severe cuts to his head and hands and was losing a substantial amount of blood.
He began working to control the bleeding while Machchhar remained conscious and communicated with those around him.
Musaev later described the pilot as being in very serious condition. His intervention was particularly important because the aircraft was still in the middle of an emergency and medical treatment on board was necessarily limited.
Smit Machchhar: The wounded pilot who raised the alarm
The actions of the passengers cannot be separated from those of Machchhar himself.
Despite being seriously injured, the Indian pilot reportedly managed to alert others to the danger and help create an opportunity for people outside the cockpit to intervene.
That gave the passengers a chance to confront the attacker and allowed the crew to work toward regaining control of the aircraft.
Machchhar was eventually taken to a hospital in Tabuk after the aircraft diverted to Saudi Arabia.
The extent of his injuries made his ability to remain conscious and communicate during the crisis a particularly important part of the passengers’ accounts.
How the passengers helped save the flight
The incident was not a single act by one person. The accounts describe a sequence of actions in which different people responded to different problems.
- Machchhar, despite being wounded, alerted others to the cockpit emergency.
- Hayun entered the cockpit and attempted to help stabilize the aircraft.
- Rajuan joined the effort to overpower the attacker.
- Manes helped restrain the attacker and keep him away from the controls.
- Musaev treated the injured pilot and worked to control his bleeding.
- Cabin crew and others aboard the aircraft continued assisting during the emergency.
That division of roles became critical because the emergency involved two immediate threats: the attacker and the aircraft’s loss of control.
Why the FZ1073 incident stands out
Commercial aviation emergencies are built around procedures designed to keep passengers away from cockpit operations and allow trained crew to handle flight-control problems.
The FZ1073 incident was dramatically different.
The reported attack placed an injured pilot, an active attacker and an aircraft in a dangerous descent inside the same crisis. Passengers who normally would have had no role in operating the aircraft suddenly found themselves responding to an extraordinary situation.
Their professional backgrounds were also strikingly different. There was no obvious connection between a plumber, banker, businessman and dentist until the emergency unfolded.
Each ended up contributing in a different way.
What is known about the flight’s diversion?
The aircraft was ultimately diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, where the injured pilot received medical treatment.
The passengers later returned to Israel, where their actions received public attention and praise from Israeli officials.
However, many details of the incident remain based on first-person accounts released soon after the event. A formal aviation or security investigation would be needed to establish the complete sequence of events, including exactly how the aircraft’s flight path changed, how cockpit control was maintained and the precise actions taken by each person.
That distinction is important in a case where dramatic firsthand accounts can emerge before investigators have reconstructed the event from flight data, cockpit information and other evidence.
Five people, one desperate chain of events
The story of FZ1073 is ultimately a story of several people responding to the same rapidly unfolding emergency.
Machchhar’s ability to raise the alarm, Hayun’s attempt to help with the controls, the passengers’ struggle to restrain the attacker and Musaev’s efforts to treat the wounded pilot all formed part of the same chain of events.
The flight did not end with a crash. It reached Saudi Arabia, the attacker was restrained and the injured pilot was taken for medical treatment.
For those aboard, however, the most extraordinary part of the journey occurred long before the aircraft reached the runway: inside a cockpit where a handful of passengers were suddenly forced to confront a crisis with almost no time to prepare.
The full circumstances of the Flydubai FZ1073 incident will ultimately depend on official findings. For now, the passenger accounts provide a remarkable picture of how an ordinary commercial flight turned into an emergency in which people with entirely different professions found themselves working toward the same goal: keeping the aircraft and its passengers alive.
