Video: flydubai hero passenger on how watching TV show helped him steady plane

Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayoun, a plumber by profession, has recounted to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu how he helped overpower a co-pilot during the midair crisis aboard flydubai flight FZ1073. While recalling, the Israeli passenger mentioned that watching TV shows on aircraft investigation helped them to regain control of the aeroplane.

Hayoun, who returned to Israel wearing the blood-stained clothes from the incident, met Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport, where the Prime Minister hugged him and said, “This is an honour! You are the hero!”

Hayoun told Netanyahu that the crisis began when the aircraft's lights went out, and the cabin pressure changed. He and another passenger, later identified as an off-duty airline pilot, tried to force open the cockpit door but could not initially get through. Machchhar, who had been attacked and collapsed near the door, managed to unlock it before losing consciousness.

Hayoun then entered the cockpit and saw one pilot lying on the floor and the other over the controls. “I entered the cockpit, saw one pilot on the floor and the other over the controls,” he told Netanyahu.

Hayoun said he grabbed the co-pilot by the neck and pulled him backwards out of the cockpit. When Netanyahu asked what the co-pilot was doing with the controls, Hayoun said he believed he was trying to damage or interfere with them. As the aircraft began to level out, Hayoun grabbed the control sticks and pulled them back.

Netanyahu appeared surprised and asked whether he had actually pulled the controls. Hayoun laughed and replied, “Yes, I pulled them all the way back. I watched Air Crash Investigation!” An off-duty pilot then took over the controls, and the aircraft was eventually diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely.