Passengers on FlyDubai Flight 1073 Recount Struggle That Prevented Disaster
Wertynews.com – What began as an ordinary Wednesday flight became a fight for survival high above the Arabian Desert, bringing together passengers who had never met before. By Friday, Daniel Schlichter, Zvika Manes, Tal Samuel and Asaf Rajuan were reunited not simply as fellow travelers, but as people bound by a terrifying ordeal aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073.
The Boeing 737 Max, carrying many Israeli passengers, suddenly entered a steep descent after its Omani co-pilot, Hamam al Hamami, attacked Captain Smit Machchhar, took control of the aircraft and attempted to crash it. The plane dropped roughly 14,000 feet within seconds, leaving those on board less than half a minute from impact.
For the passengers, the descent was both violent and disorienting. Manes compared the forces inside the cabin to a roller coaster. Schlichter described the brief period as feeling impossibly long, with thoughts of the September 11 attacks flashing through his mind.
“That minute is probably the longest minute of my life,” Schlichter said.
Seated beside his wife, Schlichter confronted the possibility that they might not survive. He recalled gripping her hand and trying to face the moment together.
“If we have to go, we have to go,” he told her.
A Cry From the Cabin
Manes was seated near the front of the aircraft with his family. His wife had taken their daughter toward the bathroom when he heard the child scream that someone was stabbing the pilot. The sound immediately signaled that the emergency was not a mechanical failure, but an attack unfolding at the cockpit entrance.
Inside the locked flight deck, Captain Machchhar was already struggling to regain control. In remarks later shared with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said the co-pilot had indicated he wanted to pray before suddenly striking him in the back of the head.
“I did try to stop him, and that’s when I gave everything that I had,” Machchhar said. “I just went for the door and opened the door and thankfully people were waiting.”
As the aircraft plunged, several passengers independently made the same decision: they would rush forward. Manes said the sight of his wife and daughter drove him to act without hesitation.
“I decided that we are going to survive, try to survive, to save my family,” Manes said.
Samuel later reflected on the sudden change in the people around him. In everyday life, he said, they were polite professionals with ordinary jobs. In that crisis, their instincts and focus became something far more urgent.
“It was like lions that are in a killing mode,” Samuel said.
Passengers Move Toward the Cockpit
Manes, Rajuan, Samuel and Israeli plumber Yaniv Hayoun moved toward the bleeding captain. They saw Machchhar not only as the man who opened the cockpit door, but as someone who had fought directly against the attacker while the aircraft was in danger.
“He had amazing fight with the terrorist,” Rajuan said. “He really fight him.”
The group then restrained al Hamami near the cockpit. Manes said the men did not know whether the co-pilot still had a knife, making the confrontation even more dangerous.
“I was jumping on him, punching,” Manes said. “He tried to resist, and we didn’t know if he has a knife.”
Investigators later learned that al Hamami had been prohibited from flying in Oman amid concerns that he had embraced extremist views. Israeli investigators identified social-media posts in which he spoke about killing Jews. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates described the attack as a terrorist act.
While passengers fought with the co-pilot, Samuel noticed a new threat: the cockpit itself was unattended. He remembered that two off-duty pilots had been sitting nearby. One of them made his way over the obstruction at the entrance and reached the controls.
Rajuan said the pilot leaned over a seat, took hold of the controls and brought the jet out of its descent. That intervention ended the freefall, but the emergency was far from over. Captain Machchhar had suffered serious stab wounds to his head and hands and was losing blood.
A Dentist Takes Charge of Emergency Care
Passengers called out for medical help. Shota Musaev, a dentist traveling with his wife, stepped forward. Before leaving his seat, he told her that he needed to help and that he loved her. He then began treating the captain in the cabin.
“We have no time – land the plane,” Musaev recalled telling a flight attendant.
Musaev feared Machchhar might not survive the injuries. The closest available airport was in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, creating another concern for the Israeli passengers because Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have diplomatic relations.
Manes said he worried that the passengers might face detention upon arrival, particularly because there was blood throughout the front section of the aircraft. Instead, the group was received and the injured captain was quickly taken to a hospital.
Machchhar is recovering from the attack. Musaev has remained affected by the experience and said the captain’s face returns to him even when he closes his eyes.
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes,” Musaev said when asked whether the memory remains with him.
The events aboard Flight 1073 underscored how quickly a routine journey can turn into an emergency requiring action from strangers. A wounded captain’s resistance, the intervention of passengers, an off-duty pilot’s response and a dentist’s care each became part of the chain that kept the aircraft from crashing.
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