USA · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Trump Says Israeli Plumber Helped Netanyahu After Flydubai Co-Pilot Stabbed Pilot
Trump said he spoke at length with Netanyahu about the Flydubai incident. An Israeli plumber helped subdue the attacker and stabilize the plane.
Whether Trump’s account is confirmed or merely relayed.
3 of 4 outlets skipped it: US officials coordinated closely with overseas counterparts.
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Same story, two versions
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Rediff
“Now this is the story that I heard. I don't know if it's true, but that's the story that I got”Read the original ↗
WSYX
“Trump cautioned that he could not independently verify every detail of the account.”Read the original ↗
It frames the story as hearsay versus a broader, more certain retelling.
Trump, Netanyahu, Flydubai
President Donald Trump said he spoke "at length" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the Flydubai incident and told reporters that, according to the information he received, the co-pilot could have been "perhaps a terrorist." Trump said the co-pilot may have been a terrorist or "perhaps a whack-job" and described the co-pilot stabbing the pilot while the pilot was in "very bad shape." Trump said the pilot had the presence of mind to open the cockpit door, and Trump said the doors are made of solid steel and "cannot be opened from the outside."
“I SPOKE AT LENGTH AND IN DETAIL WITH BIBI NETANYAHU ABOUT THIS INCIDENT.”
Trump said an "Israeli plumber" intervened after hearing screams from the cockpit, and Trump said the passenger took the stick, lifted it up, and leveled out the plane before it crashed. The flight carrying 174 passengers nearly crashed when an altercation broke out in the cockpit between the pilots.
Who intervened, what happened
Yaniv Hayun told reporters that he and other passengers knew there was an attack occurring "because a woman screamed 'stabbing' and the plane shook hard." Hayun said he placed the attacker in a chokehold and pulled him out, then he went for the plane's controls and briefly flew the plane. Hayun credited a TV show for knowing what to do during the emergency, and Hayun said, "I pulled up the yoke (steering control of the plane)."
El Confidencial said Netanyahu ordered Israeli security agencies to prepare for other potential additional threats after the incident. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 landed at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk after the aircraft steered toward Jordan and then veered back toward Saudi Arabia.
Investigation and political stakes
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would join the investigation into the Flydubai co-pilot and said investigators would soon be able to determine whether Iran had any connection to the event. Netanyahu told Jim Sciutto that he did not yet have information allowing him to attribute the incident to Tehran, saying, "What we know is [that he is] an Omani national." Netanyahu said he spoke with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, and Netanyahu said Zayed agreed that Israel would join the interrogation.
The airline confirmed the incident in a statement, explaining that "on September 30 there was an altercation in the cockpit of Flight FZ 1073" and that the situation was successfully controlled by the crew. Netanyahu was campaigning ahead of the October 27 elections and Netanyahu said he personally spoke with some of the Israeli crew members after detaining the alleged terrorist.