flydubai passenger feared pilots saving plane might hijack it, fly to Iran

A passenger aboard a flydubai flight said he feared the two mystery pilots who took control after Captain Smit Machchhar was attacked by his co-pilot inside the cockpit could hijack the jet to Iran. The pilots eventually stabilised the aircraft and landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

In Short

• 2 pilots saved flydubai flight after Captain Smit Machchhar was attacked by co-pilot
• They took control of jet, stabilised plane and landed safely in Tabuk
• flydubai confirmed pilots were on-duty crew, did not disclose their names

The two mystery pilots who stepped in to save a flydubai Dubai-Tel Aviv flight after Captain Smit Machchhar was attacked by his Omani co-pilot in the cockpit have yet to be publicly identified, three days after the dramatic mid-air incident. But as the pilots took control of the aircraft, terrified passengers briefly feared the worst -- that the plane could be hijacked and flown to Iran.

One passenger, Daniel Schlichter, said the two travelling pilots helped stabilise the aircraft after the cockpit attack, but their initial silence left some passengers unsure whether they could be trusted. “I was worried about this,” Schlichter told The Associated Press, recalling that he feared the men might be “hijacking the plane into Iran, maybe”.

Schlichter who was seated in the second row, provided one of the most detailed accounts yet of how the two pilots helped avert a potential disaster. He said they took control of the aircraft after passengers realised that Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami was attacking Machchhar inside the cockpit, helping stabilise the plane before it eventually landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Hamam is currently in UAE custody, while Machchhar is recovering at a Dubai hospital.

The airline has described the mystery pilots only as on-duty crew members travelling on the aircraft, which was carrying 182 people, but has not disclosed their names or provided further details about them.

"This is one of the miracles. That not in every flight they bring two extra pilots. In this case, they brought them because they should have brought the plane back from Tel Aviv to Dubai, and this is the only reason they were there," Schlichter told The Associated Press.

The practice is known as deadheading.

Schlichter said panicked passengers realised something was wrong in the cockpit and said the co-pilot was attacking Machchhar repeatedly, with "blood everywhere". The captain, though badly wounded, managed to unlock the cockpit door.

After one passenger grabbed the co-pilot and pulled him out of the cockpit, and others struggled with him to subdue him, Schlichter said one of the travelling pilots moved in quickly to take over the controls.

"He was actually kind of jumping above the guys that were handling the terrorist, and he reached out to the pilot area and started to take over. And then the other guy, the other pilot, joined in, and they closed the door because they didn't want anybody else to be there."

Schlichter said he did not know where the two men had come from, but said the first pilot acted immediately. "He acted really like a hero, taking over the plane and reacted like he understood exactly what is going on, and I think we owe him our lives not less than the other heroes that went on the flight," he said.

Once the two men entered the cockpit and shut the door, Schlichter said he was not sure what happened inside. He said it took "quite a lot of minutes", perhaps 10 or more, to stabilise the aircraft after a descent so severe that part of its rudder was torn away.

A mayday call was made as the men frantically looked for a place to land.

Schlichter said some frightened passengers were unsure whether the men in the cockpit could be trusted. "After they managed to stabilise the plane, actually they did not have any communication with us, and I have to tell you, I was worried about this," he said.

About 45 minutes later, Schlichter said, the pilots announced that they would be landing in Tabuk and that everything would be all right. He said that was when he decided to trust them, and that turned out to be true.

- Ends
(with inputs from AP)