The events that unfolded on Wednesday morning on a FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv eerily evoke memories of Flight 93. We should all be relieved beyond belief that this story has a happier ending.
FlyDubai 1073, a Boeing 737 Max 8 had 174 passengers, plus its crew. During the flight, an emergency alert was sent from the plane, and the plane plunged some 18,000 feet. Passengers were convinced they were about to die, especially as they realized that the pilot had been stabbed.
Miriam Ohayon, whose brother was killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, said all hell broke loose on board when Flight 1073 began to nosedive en-route to Tel Aviv.
After the flight captain, Smit Machchhar, released the cockpit doors, Ohayon recalled the shrieks of terror at the sight of the bloody pilot.
“We heard screams on the plane, and when they opened the cockpit, there was a lot of blood,” she told Israel’s Channel 24.
Fellow passenger Mika Bauman said the feeling of the plane losing some 18,000 feet was a million times worse than a drop on a rollercoaster.
“I was just sure I was going to die,” she told CNN. “You’re just siting there and accepting your fate.”
Fortunately, the one person who knew what was happening was also the person who enabled passengers to get control of the plane. The first hero of the day was the pilot, Smit Machchhar.
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