Flydubai passengers describe subduing pilot after mid-air stabbing

Passengers aboard a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv have described how they overpowered a pilot after he stabbed his co-pilot and appeared to be attempting to disable the aircraft mid-flight.

The plane, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, suddenly lost 17,000 feet of altitude in under two minutes. One passenger, Yaniv Hayun, later spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while still wearing a bloodstained shirt, recounting the moment he sensed something had gone badly wrong as the aircraft dropped and the cabin lights went out amid screaming from passengers.

Hayun said he and another passenger tried to force open the cockpit door, but access was initially blocked because the injured pilot was lying close to it. The wounded pilot reportedly managed to open the door himself before losing consciousness.

Once inside the cockpit, Hayun said he found one pilot down and the other positioned between the seats, apparently attempting to damage the aircraft's controls in order to bring the plane down. He described restraining the attacker by placing him in a chokehold and pulling him out of the cockpit within seconds, before calling on fellow Israeli passengers to help hold the man down and keep him secured.

The footage of Hayun's account was shared by Netanyahu on social media. Other passengers have separately described the incident as a terrifying experience during which they feared for their lives.