MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Passengers on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv are describing what happened on board a Flydubai airplane that caused them to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The plane signaled a distress call on Wednesday after one of the pilots apparently stabbed the other pilot and seemed to be trying to crash the plane with everyone on board. Many of the passengers were Israelis, and officials in Israel are calling it an attempted terrorist attack, although the motive is still unknown.
MARTIN: NPR's Kat Lonsdorf is with us now from Tel Aviv. Good morning, Kat.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: Hey. Good morning.
MARTIN: It sounds like a really harrowing situation on...
LONSDORF: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...That plane. What can you tell us?
LONSDORF: So, yeah, like you said, the plane was operated by Flydubai. That's an airline based in the UAE. There's still a lot we don't know, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put out a statement after speaking with some of the passengers who told him that the plane went into a spin and began to plunge as one of the pilots was trying to sabotage the aircraft systems after stabbing his co-pilot. He said some passengers sprang into action and were able to enter the cockpit after the pilot who was stabbed unlocked the cockpit door during the attack. Those passengers managed to subdue the attacker.
Israeli officials released a video of Netanyahu talking to one of those passengers, a man named Yaniv Hayun, once he landed back in Israel. Hayun's clothes were still covered in blood in the video.
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YANIV HAYUN: (Speaking Hebrew).
LONSDORF: He described how he put the attacker in a chokehold and pulled the plane's controls up to try to right it. Hayun says he's a plumber, but he thought to do that after seeing it in a TV show. He also said that there happened to be another flight crew on the plane who jumped in to help land it.
MARTIN: That's incredible.
LONSDORF: Yeah.
MARTIN: You were at the airport in Tel Aviv last night as the passengers arrived there. What was that like?
LONSDORF: Yeah. It was really hectic. The arrivals area was filled with journalists and family members. The passengers slowly emerged, dragging their suitcases behind them. Some were crying, some smiling, looking relieved, and some just looked really tired.
There were also quite a few families with children. I talked to one passenger named Dan Zoler. He was traveling with his wife and two small children on the flight. He confirmed a lot of what Netanyahu said, that he saw three other passengers throw themselves on that co-pilot who was attacking his colleague and capture him. And he said he was trying to just distract his son during the incident to tell him that what was happening wasn't normal.
DAN ZOLER: I told him that it's something that happened like once in 25 years, that I want him to be calm. And we are happy to come back.
LONSDORF: That seemed like the overwhelming feeling from people, just happy to have two feet back on solid ground.
MARTIN: Yeah. And I hear people, I think, singing in the background, I think...
LONSDORF: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...Sort of to welcome people back. Do we know anything about the co-pilot who carried out this attack?
LONSDORF: We don't know much. Both the pilot and the co-pilot are alive. They're being interviewed by investigators in Saudi Arabia. The UAE has also opened an investigation, and Netanyahu has said Israel will be involved. The pilot who was stabbed is from India. Both Netanyahu and India's prime minister have commended him. And the co-pilot who did the attacking is from Oman. It's still unclear if he was acting alone.
MARTIN: And what's been the response in Israel to all of this?
LONSDORF: This is the top story here, with the four passengers who entered the cockpit being hailed as heroes who saved the lives of 175 people on board, according to Israeli officials. You know, it comes at a particularly political time here in Israel, as national elections - which will determine whether Netanyahu remains prime minister - are less than a month away. He's been campaigning on this idea that he alone can protect Israelis from the threats that Israel faces. So this incident on the plane will almost certainly be a talking point in the coming weeks.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Kat, thank you.
LONSDORF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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