U.S. President Donald Trump offered his own extraordinary account Wednesday night of the drama aboard the flydubai flight to Israel, saying he had spoken "at length" with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and recounting how, according to what he was told, an Israeli plumber with no flying experience helped prevent the aircraft from crashing.
"I think it’s an incredible story," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I did speak to Bibi Netanyahu at length about this event." Trump said the information he received suggested that "the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job, and he stabbed the pilot."
Trump comments on attempted terror attack aboard flydubai flight
(Video: X)
He said the wounded captain was in ‘very bad shape,’ but praised his actions after the attack. Trump said the pilot managed to open the reinforced cockpit door despite his injuries, allowing others to enter.
"In a way, he was a hero," Trump said, noting that cockpit doors are designed so they cannot be opened from outside. According to Trump’s account, the injured pilot managed to open the door and scream for help.
Trump then turned to the Israeli passenger who intervened, apparently referring to Yaniv Hayun. "An Israeli plumber saw what was happening," Trump said. "And you know, when you lift pipe all day, you’re strong."
Trump said Hayun was near the front of the aircraft when he heard the screams and saw what was unfolding. At that point, Trump said, the plane was already descending rapidly. "The plane was going sharply down at an unbelievable angle," he said, adding that the aircraft was traveling far beyond its normal operating limits.
Yaniv Hayun
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
Trump also claimed that the dive was so extreme that "the rudder ripped off the back of the plane." He said the Israeli passenger then confronted the co-pilot. "He ripped this guy out of the seat, threw him back," Trump said, adding that other passengers then grabbed and restrained the man.
Then came the part of the story that appeared to impress Trump most. "Having never flown a plane, he took the stick, lifted it up, and leveled out the plane before it crashed," Trump said.
But Trump immediately stressed that he was recounting information given to him rather than presenting an independently verified version of events. "Now this is the story that I heard. I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s the story that I got from Bibi," he said.
Trump said other pilots and security personnel subsequently reached the cockpit and took control of the aircraft. "I think it’s the most amazing story," he said.
Trump also recounted what he had been told about how Hayun knew what to do with the controls. "When asked why he did that, he said, 'He watches that show Air Disasters,'" Trump said.
Trump called Air Disasters ‘the craziest show’ and said Hayun had apparently told Netanyahu that he watched it frequently.
"He said he watches it a lot, and he learned from watching that show sort of how to fly," Trump said.
Trump joked about the series, saying watching programs about aviation catastrophes made him uncomfortable because ‘bad things happen,’ before returning to the improbability of a passenger drawing on a television show during an actual midair emergency.
He also repeated his caution about the suspected attacker’s intentions. "They said he wanted to crash. They don’t know that. They don’t know that kind of information," Trump said.
The president later again described Hayun as a plumber, referring to him at one point as a "Jewish plumber."
flydubai Flight FZ1073 was traveling from Dubai to Israel Wednesday morning with 174 people aboard, most of them Israelis, when a violent incident erupted in the cockpit. The Omani co-pilot attacked the Indian captain and the aircraft rapidly lost altitude before passengers and crew members entered the cockpit and subdued him.
Two other pilots traveling aboard the flight later took control of the aircraft and landed it safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The passengers subsequently returned to Israel aboard a replacement flyDubai flight.
The precise motive for the attack remains under investigation. Not all elements of the dramatic account Trump said he received from Netanyahu and others have been independently confirmed.