President Trump thanks passenger who helped stop attack on Flydubai flight — The Hill

US President Donald Trump thanked Israeli plumber Yaniv Hayoun, who, together with three other passengers, intervened during an attack aboard a Flydubai plane bound for Tel Aviv. In a video address published on Truth Social, Trump called Hayoun a hero and congratulated him and his family.

Passenger intervention

As The Hill reports, one of the pilots stabbed his colleague and attempted to cause an air disaster. Hayoun and three other passengers managed to restrain the pilot, after which Hayoun took the controls to stabilize the plane, which had entered a steep descent.

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Another crew that was on board later took over the controls, and the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Hayoun has no flight training. According to him, he relied on knowledge gained from watching the TV series Air Crash Investigation, which recreates the circumstances of real air disasters.

Award and investigation

Captain Smith Machchar was taken to hospital for treatment of the stab wounds he sustained during the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Saudi authorities had detained and questioned the second pilot. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday that he would nominate Hayoun and the three other passengers for the Presidential Award for Civic Heroism.