Suddenly, the plane began to plummet. He lost his balance and it was half a minute of impressive and rapid free fall. Like in the movies. It was terrifying. We didn't know the reason because we had not warned of possible turbulence, says Almog Italie, recalling the most distressing moments on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Were you afraid of dying? We asked this Israeli who, like the rest of the more than 170 passengers, feels lucky to be able to tell it. I didn't have time for it. I am a person of facts and at that moment I was focused on how to save my life and that of my family and not on losing it. We fasten our seat belts and prepare ourselves in the seats, he answers.
After a vacation in Japan, Italie, his wife and two children (aged 13 and 16) were on board the Flydubai flight to return home. The Indian pilot opened the cockpit after being attacked. He is a great hero as are the Israeli passengers who entered and neutralized the attacker. One of them even raised the control stick when the plane was falling. If it weren't for them and for the cold blood of everyone on the plane, I wouldn't be talking to you, Italie tells EL MUNDO with a surprising calm.
The action of a few prevented around 180 funerals by aborting an attack that could have inflicted 9/11 on Israel shortly before commemorating the third anniversary of 7-0. With the aircraft in free fall amid some panicked screams and many prayers interspersed with resigned farewells, several people of different origins and professions, but with the same courage, managed to reduce the attacking co-pilot, save the life of the stabbed captain and stabilize the aircraft before it crashed in a desert area, a school or a skyscraper. The heroes of flight FZ1074 confirm that miracles are also done with hands.
Many Israelis returning home after enjoying paradisiacal vacations in the Far East, trying to put aside the stressful reality of their country, found themselves immersed in a harrowing nightmare with a happy ending. When the Emirati company's plane took off from Dubai at 6:05 a.m. on Wednesday, no one on board knew the name of Captain Smit Machchhar. Today this pilot, hospitalized in Saudi Arabia, receives praise from the prime minister of Israel and India to the last lucky passenger.
More than two hours after taking off from Dubai, the plane began to make worrying movements. Machchhar was surprised by the co-pilot, an Omani national, who attacked him with a knife. Seriously injured on the ground, he managed to open the cabin door. But before highlighting his fight to stop the co-pilot and allow the passengers to enter, it is worth stopping at Tali Manes. This Israeli had accompanied her six-year-old daughter to the toilet in the front of the device. Suddenly, she heard screams coming from the cabin and alerted a crew member and her husband Tzvika.
I saw the pilot fight with the stabber. We immediately rushed towards him and took him outside. There was a lot of blood. The plane lost altitude and began to descend with enormous speed like in horror movies, says Tzvika Manes, manager of a major bank in Israel.
Yaniv Hayoun not only helped neutralize the attacker. According to him, he saw the co-pilot trying to destroy the control devices so that the plane would crash. After getting him outside with the help of Manes and Assaf Rajuan, Hayoun returned to the cabin of a plane on the way to tragedy. Inspired by the television series Mayday air disasters, he pushed the levers upwards, thus stopping the aircraft from collapsing.
As Israelis we naturally think that it was a terrorist attack but at that moment we couldn't know exactly what it was, says Italie, who returns to the moments of the deep and abrupt descent. They were brief moments of panic. The people behaved in an exemplary way and that was what saved us. We stayed in the seats waiting for landing. When the plane stabilized, there was no tension. I think there was more anxiety in Israel at that time.
Hayoun's action reached the White House and was recounted by US President Donald Trump: An Israeli plumber who has never flown an airplane and who has barely been on airplanes saw what happened. He is strong because when you lift pipes all day you are strong. He saw what was happening, heard the screams, grabbed the Stick, lifted it up and balanced the plane before it crashed.
But his action was not enough. It was when a pilot from the Emirati company who was off duty on the flight took control in the small space with white walls stained with blood and together with another pilot managed to land at the Saudi airport in Tabuk. Saudi Arabia treated us exceptionally. Medical treatment, food, etc., indicates Italie.
Rajuan was another of those who got up from his seat to stop the Omani attacker and the fall of the device. The plane lost control and descended 90 degrees downwards. We understood that no one controlled it at that time. The cabin was open and we saw it filling with blood. I entered with two others to subdue the terrorist. We all knew how to react and act together without thinking too much. We decided it was to be or not to be, as they say. "I'm still in shock but happy that everything has happened," says Rajuan, head of an insurance company.
Dentist Shota Musayev, the only doctor on the flight, had a dual role: Helping immobilize the attacker and saving the captain's life. The four of us managed to take control of the situation because otherwise we wouldn't be talking now, says Musayev. After taking care of the Omani, he treated the attacked pilot. His situation was critical with abundant blood loss in his head and arms. I managed to stop the bleeding and keep him stable until landing, he reveals. He was in contact with us all the time. He told us that he was 39 years old and the father of two children and that the terrorist stabbed and insulted him, the dentist remembers.
It wasn't just my heroism; everyone who was there and approached the cockpit was part of it. We were all heroes. All the passengers were heroes. We supported each other on the plane and also upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, and we took care of each other as we should. That shows our strength as a people, he said in conversation with President Isaac Herzog.
