Attempted hijacking foiled by passengers and crew.

 

Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu hugs Yaniv Hayoun still covered in blood. New York Post/GPO.

An attempted hijacking on a Flydubai flight out of Dubai was foiled by passengers and crew. New York Post. The captain of the flight, Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, was attacked and stabbed by his copilot. Machchhar was able to alert his crew that he was under attack. He unlocked the cabin and allowed civilians to help subdue the copilot. One of those passengers, Yaniv Hayoun, an Israeli plumber, helped subdue the attacker as he was pounding on the control panels. He and other passengers were able to subdue the copilot. Hayoun was then able to pull the plane out of a dive due to watching the program Mayday (Air Crash Investigations in the United States). The pilot was able to help at that point and two off-duty pilots were able to land the plane. Hayoun then met with Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu still covered in blood. 

My Comment:

This was a very serious incident and it could have, at the very least, resulted in the deaths of everyone on the plane. The copilot was attempting to sabotage the plane and it was diving. If it weren't for the actions of the pilot, Smit Machchhar and the passengers, including Yaniv Hayoun, this plane would have been destroyed. 

What isn't clear is if this was an attempt to just destroy the plane or if it was an attempt to pull off a 9/11 style attack on Israel itself. Given the circumstances of this incident I am guessing the first scenario is more likely. Given that he was smashing the controls, I am guessing the copilot simply wanted to crash the plane in the Saudi Arabian desert. 

A 9/11 style ramming attack isn't impossible though. It could be that was the copilots original plan but it was disrupted by the pilot, who managed to unlock the cockpit. At that point his plot may have been foiled, and much like United Airlines Flight 93, tried to put the plane on the ground to at least accomplish something. Thankfully that did not come to pass. 

This is pretty clearly an attack on Israel and Israeli citizens. The majority of people on the flight were Israelis returning from Dubai and there is little doubt in my mind that that was the entire point. I doubt that there is going to be any other motive for this attack. 

What is unclear is if the copilot had any help. My guess is that this was a lone wolf attack and one that did not have any involvement with a wider terror network. I am guessing he may have been radicalized online at worst, but this was probably his plan and he didn't get any help.  

Regardless of his actual plan or his alignment to any terror groups, what is clear is that the passengers and crew were heroes here. All of them had to act to save themselves and stop this attack. There were multiple points of failure here that were avoided. 

First, the pilot had to survive long enough to open the door and alert the crew. Then the passengers, along with Hayoun, had to fight and subdue the attacker. Finally, there had to be pilots on board to actually land the plane as I doubt Machchhar would have been able to do so at that point. I do hope that the pilot makes a full recovery from his wounds too, he's a hero, along with the people that fought and the pilots that took over.