Heroic Passengers Thwarted Hijacking, Crew Demanded Terrorist's Release

Three Israeli passengers overpowered a co-pilot who attacked the captain with an ax and attempted to hijack a flydubai flight, but their heroism was met with resistance from some crew members who demanded the attacker be freed, according to interviews with the passengers.

The incident occurred when the co-pilot, identified as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami by The Wall Street Journal, began attacking the Indian pilot, Capt. Smit Machchhar, with a crash ax. Machchhar, despite being seriously injured, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers Tzvika Manes, Yaniv Hayoun, and Asaf Rajuan to intervene.

Manes, a banking executive, and his fellow passengers subdued al-Hammami, restraining him with zip ties and headphone wires. Hayoun, a plumber, then stabilized the nosediving plane, recalling techniques from the TV show "Air Disasters."

After the attacker was subdued, Manes and Daniel Schlichter, another passenger, reported that some crew members began demanding that the terrorist be untied and freed. "They were asking us to untie the terrorist — we had no idea why," Manes told The Post. Schlichter added, "They were saying to free the terrorist — we got instantly suspicious of them."

The Israeli passengers refused, leading to an argument. "They said, ‘You are not God, you are not going to kill him,'" Manes recalled. "We didn’t want to kill him, we just wanted him not to kill us."

Manes and Schlichter stated that they even provided the injured terrorist with an oxygen mask, wanting him to live for investigation. The passengers, wary of the crew's actions, insisted they were in charge and ordered the flight attendants to move to seats away from the cockpit.

"We told them, ‘Now the policy is we’re in charge and you do what we say,’ " Manes said. A larger passenger was enlisted to guard the cockpit.

Meanwhile, reserve pilots who had been seated in the rear of the plane entered the cockpit and took control of the aircraft. Once the situation was stabilized, the crew began attending to passengers, providing blankets and water.

The plane eventually landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Manes, who was traveling with his wife and three daughters, recounted the fear and relief after landing. "I hugged my daughters and told them they were going to be OK, and that they are heroes," he said.

Schlichter, who was returning from a vacation with his wife, described the terrifying moment the plane nosedived 17,000 feet. "It was the longest minute I’ll ever have in my life, I remember everything, I remember clearly thinking about 9/11, then I thought about my children, my family, how awful it would be for them to hear what happened," he said.

Neither Manes nor Schlichter have been accused of conspiring with the co-pilot. Flydubai stated it could not comment on a matter under investigation but is cooperating with authorities.