Hours after the mid-air drama that shook Israel, the passengers of the flydubai flight came home this evening. One of them, Yaniv, who helped stop the plane’s dive, met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and described how he grabbed the controls: “I pulled them up and stopped the dive.”
The flydubai rescue aircraft carrying the passengers of the flight that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia touched down safely at Ben Gurion Airport tonight. After long hours of tension and uncertainty, the passengers walked off the plane and into the arms of their families. There were hugs, tears and a great deal of relief.
“I pulled the controls up and stopped the dive”
Back in Israel, Yaniv, one of the passengers who helped bring the situation under control, met the Prime Minister and went back over the moments when the plane was dropping fast. “I pulled the controls up and stopped the plane’s dive,” he said. “Lucky I’d watched ‘Air Crash Investigation’.”
Behind the funny line is a truly dramatic moment. According to testimonies and reports gathered during the day, the aircraft lost thousands of feet of altitude in a short time after the captain was attacked in the cockpit. Passengers and crew managed to step in and prevent a disaster.
Watch: Yaniv tells the Prime Minister how he stopped the plane’s dive
The flydubai flight: from Saudi Arabia back to Israel
Emergency landing in Tabuk
The original flydubai flight was on its way from Dubai to Ben Gurion when it transmitted emergency codes, changed course and descended rapidly. It eventually landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, and everyone on board was evacuated safely.
A replacement aircraft was later sent from Dubai to Saudi Arabia to collect the passengers and fly them to Israel. It landed at Ben Gurion in the evening, and the passengers were taken to a dedicated reception area where medical teams and social workers were waiting.
A man of about 50 was taken to hospital in light condition with an injury to his upper body. The other passengers were checked and given help as needed.
Watch: the reunion and the return to Israel
Hugs and tears at Ben Gurion
The passengers’ families had waited for hours for news. When the doors of the reception hall opened, the scenes were deeply emotional: people embracing their relatives at the end of a day that began with real fear of a hijacking and ended with everyone home.
During the incident, a waiting and information area for families was set up in Terminal 1, along with a telephone information centre. Flight operations at Ben Gurion carried on as normal.
The investigation is only beginning
The passengers are back, but many questions remain open. The authorities are expected to look into the circumstances of the attack in the cockpit, the activation of the emergency codes and the chain of events that led to the steep dive.
flydubai has cautioned against drawing early conclusions, while in Israel the passengers and crew who acted in those dangerous moments have been widely praised. The meeting between Yaniv and the Prime Minister became the symbolic end of an extraordinary day, one that started with fears of a catastrophe and finished with all the passengers back in Israel.
