President Isaac Herzog of Israel on Thursday said that he would recommend five Israelis for the country’s highest civilian award for heroism after they intervened to help stop an apparent attempt to crash a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv a day earlier.
Mr. Herzog said the swift actions of the passengers, who he identified as Yaniv Hayoun, Shota Musev, Tzvika Manes, his wife Tali Manes, and Asaf Rajuan, helped save the lives of more than 170 people aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073.
“You put yourselves at risk to save others and prevented a terrible disaster,” Mr. Herzog said in a statement released by his office.
During a violent struggle in the cockpit, the plane’s co-pilot stabbed the Indian pilot, Capt. Smit Machchhar, according to passengers and Israeli officials. Ms. Manes raised the alarm when she heard commotion coming from the cockpit, according to the president’s office. She alerted other passengers and called two off-duty pilots seated in the rear of the cabin to come to the cockpit. The pilots helped to regain control of the aircraft, passengers and officials said.
In a social media post, Mr. Herzog said he offered “warm thanks” to the pilot and the reserve pilots for what he said was their courage and resourcefulness. “The State of Israel extends immense gratitude to you,” Mr. Herzog said, addressing Mr. Machchhar.
According to the statement from Mr. Herzog’s office, Mr. Manes, Ms. Manes’s husband, forced open the cockpit door along with fellow passengers Mr. Hayoun, a plumber, and Mr. Rajuan, after the captain had managed to unlatch it. The passengers then tackled the assailant.
Mr. Hayoun told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised conversation on Wednesday that while the other passengers were working to overpower the attacker, he “grabbed the controls and started pulling back the handles,” trying to mimic maneuvers he had seen on television. Mr. Manes said in interviews with Israeli outlets that it took roughly 20 to 25 minutes for the passengers to fully subdue and bind the co-pilot, using corded headphones from the plane’s entertainment system.
Dr. Musev, a dentist, treated the pilot for what he described as severe wounds to his head and cuts to his fingers, providing what the president’s office described as “lifesaving medical treatment.”
“It was an extraordinary incident. We felt helpless, suspended in midair, and I didn’t know who to turn to,” Mr. Rajuan told the president, according the statement from Mr. Herzog’s office. “But it was all instinct: to survive, to save the family, the people, and the children.”
The Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism was established by Mr. Herzog in the aftermath of the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, to honor ordinary civilians who demonstrated extraordinary bravery to save lives.
The post Israeli President to Honor 5 Passengers Who Helped to Avert Flight Disaster appeared first on New York Times.
