Passengers aboard the flydubai flight to Tel Aviv that narrowly escaped disaster are preparing to file massive lawsuits against the airline, the State of Israel and other parties. Calcalist has learned that the passengers have appointed a committee to handle dealings with the authorities. The lawsuits are expected to seek hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation.
The committee is headed by Tzvika Manes, CEO of Bank Leumi's underwriting arm, who helped subdue the terrorist pilot. Other members include Tal Eisenberg, a lawyer based in Singapore, as well as Daniel Schlichter, Itay Perlman and Shir Maor, all of whom were passengers on the flydubai flight.
The passengers appointed a committee to coordinate their dealings with the authorities
(Photos: Karl Dittlbacher/Reuters, Yuval Chen)
Committee members have met with law firms in Israel and plan to meet with international firms to select legal representation for their compensation claims. About 100 of the flight's 174 passengers have signed powers of attorney authorizing the committee to represent them. The remaining passengers have yet to decide whether to join the effort or pursue compensation independently.
Following the meetings with lawyers, the committee will present its initial findings and recommendations to the passengers, who will then decide how to proceed. The lawsuits are expected to target Israel's Transportation Ministry and potentially its counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, as well as relevant authorities in other countries, since some of the passengers are not Israeli citizens.
The initiative began in a WhatsApp group formed by passengers as the plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport. About 70 members of the group asked Manes, a senior capital markets executive with contacts in the legal community, to lead the effort alongside one or two other passengers.
One of the challenges in pursuing such a lawsuit is the unprecedented nature of the incident: an attempted hijacking in which the aircraft was sent into a steep dive toward a crash, a struggle erupted between the pilots and one of the pilots himself was responsible for the attempted hijacking.
An initial review conducted by the passengers with law firms found that an entire section of the Abraham Accords between Israel and the UAE addresses regulations governing flights between the two countries, raising concerns that the agreements may have been violated in connection with the incident.
The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv departed on September 29. During the flight, passenger Tali Manes heard shouting from the cockpit and called on Israeli passengers to investigate. They discovered the co-pilot stabbing the captain as the aircraft plunged toward the ground.
Passenger Yaniv Hayun stabilized the aircraft, while other passengers, including Manes, restrained the terrorist pilot, attended to the injured captain and enlisted another pilot who was traveling as a passenger on behalf of the airline to land the plane in Saudi Arabia. The passengers subsequently returned to Israel.