A mother traveling with her four daughters says she told them to pray as their Flydubai aircraft began descending during an attack on its captain.
Lital Hirschl-Shahar, 39, told the New York Post that she feared her family would die aboard Flight FZ1073 on September 30. They were returning from a vacation in Singapore and Thailand, traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
Her daughters, ages 14, 11, 7 and 5, were beside her when shouting near the front of the cabin alerted passengers to an emergency.
“We needed a miracle”
Hirschl-Shahar said someone shouted that the pilot was under attack. The aircraft then began dropping, leaving her terrified for her children.
“It all happened so fast, and the plane just started dropping down,” she told the Post. “We all thought we were going to die.”
She recalled praying continuously and asking her daughters to do the same.
“We needed a miracle,” she said, describing the fear that neither she nor her children would survive.
Hirschl-Shahar also recalled hearing a woman shouting from business class. The terror in the woman’s voice, she said, was something she would never forget.
Passengers rushed to help the injured captain
Captain Smit Machchhar suffered serious injuries during the cockpit attack. Passenger accounts and statements from Israeli officials describe how he opened the cockpit door, allowing others to enter and intervene.
Among those who responded was Yaniv Hayun, a plumber whom Hirschl-Shahar said had been sitting behind her family.
Hayun joined other passengers in helping restrain the attacker. He later described briefly handling the aircraft’s controls before another flight crew took over.
A dentist aboard the flight also helped treat the wounded captain. The rescue depended on several people carrying out different tasks as the emergency unfolded.
Reserve pilot brought the aircraft down safely
The aircraft diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia. A reserve Flydubai pilot traveling aboard the flight took control and landed it safely, according to Reuters reporting.
Accounts have given different figures for the aircraft’s descent. Reuters’ October 3 report, citing Flightradar24 data, put the drop at approximately 16,625 feet in just over 30 seconds.
Passengers subsequently reached Israel on another flight, the Associated Press reported.
UAE investigators describe attempted terrorist attack
On October 3, UAE Prosecutor General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said investigators had found that the copilot attempted a terrorist attack. He said the suspect used a cockpit crash axe against the captain and tried to take control of the aircraft.
Reuters identified the suspect as Hammam al-Hammami, citing two sources. Emirati authorities had not publicly confirmed his identity in that report.
Saudi authorities detained the copilot after the landing. He was later transferred to Abu Dhabi as the UAE took the lead in the investigation.
On October 5, Reuters reported a further allegation from two Israeli officials: that the suspect told UAE interrogators he had planned the attack before joining the airline. That account remains attributed to those officials, rather than a finding established in court.
A family’s account of surviving the emergency
Hirschl-Shahar’s recollections describe the experience from the cabin, where she was trying to comfort four children while unable to see clearly what was happening in the cockpit.
Her family’s journey ended safely after the intervention of passengers and crew. But she said the shouting, sudden descent and fear for her daughters were moments she would not forget.