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The Big ReadWednesday, 09.30.2026View in App

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Get the whole story. Join now.‘I Ran Toward the Cockpit’: An Exclusive Interview with the Israeli Dad Who Stopped a Hijacking

Yaniv Hayoun was on a flight from Dubai to Israel with his family when one of the co-pilots stabbed the other and sent the plane into a nosedive. He told The Free Press what happened next.

Yaniv Hayun, who helped foil an attempted hijacking on a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, reacts after arriving at the Ben Gurion International Airport on September 30, 2026. (REUTERS/Ammar Awad

By Neria KrausPREVIEW

Around 8:20 a.m. local time on Wednesday morning, a flight bound from Dubai to Tel Aviv sent out an emergency signal, alerting Israeli air traffic controllers to an attempted hijacking. One of the co-pilots had repeatedly stabbed the other with a knife, before seizing control of the cockpit. Within two minutes, the plane had plummeted more than 17,000 feet, careening off course toward Saudi Arabia. About 180 people were on board.

Moments later, several passengers and crewmembers stormed the cockpit, overpowered the attacker, and took back control of the plane, landing it in Saudi Arabia. At 6:34 p.m. local time, everyone on board arrived safely back in Tel Aviv.

I spoke with Yaniv Hayoun, a passenger on the plane, immediately after he landed. Hayoun was one of the people who stormed the cockpit...

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