Bloodied face in viral flydubai image: Who is Yaniv, passenger who entered cockpit?

Who is Yaniv? The bloodied flydubai passenger told Netanyahu how he entered the cockpit, restrained the alleged attacker and helped as FZ1073 plunged.

His face and clothes were smeared with blood in images from flydubai flight FZ1073. Hours later, the passenger identified as Yaniv was standing at Ben Gurion Airport telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu how he had rushed into the cockpit, restrained a man at the controls and grabbed the controls himself as the aircraft plunged towards the ground.

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Who is Yaniv, the passenger seen in the viral images?

Israeli media have identified him only as Yaniv. Few personal details about him have been made public so far, and there is no verified account showing that he was a trained pilot.

What is known comes largely from his account after returning to Israel and from other passengers who described the chaos aboard the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight.

Yaniv told Netanyahu that he and another passenger forced their way into the cockpit after trouble broke out during the flight. He said they found an injured pilot near the cockpit door and another man at the controls.

"When I went in, I saw the terrorist on the controls, between the two seats. There were no pilots in the seats," Yaniv said, using the description adopted by Israeli officials for the suspected attacker.

'I grabbed the terrorist'

Yaniv said his first move was to get the man away from the aircraft's controls.

"I grabbed the terrorist, put him in a hold, and first of all pulled him outside," he told Netanyahu.

He said other Israeli passengers then helped restrain the man. Yaniv returned to the cockpit after realising that the Boeing 737 MAX was descending sharply.

Flight-tracking data showed FZ1073 dropping from around 34,000 feet to roughly 17,000 feet in under a minute during the emergency. The aircraft later descended below 15,000 feet before its flight stabilised.

'I watch Mayday': Yaniv describes grabbing the controls

Yaniv's next claim produced one of the more unusual details to emerge from the incident. He said he grabbed the aircraft's controls as it tilted sharply.

"I jumped back in there, grabbed the controls, started pulling the controls," he said.

When asked how he knew what to do, Yaniv gave a simple answer: "I watch Mayday."

"The plane started leveling out a little more, and then the pilot told me he was taking over from there," he said.

Other accounts indicate that pilots travelling aboard the aircraft subsequently helped take control. The exact sequence inside the cockpit is part of the investigation.

What happened aboard flydubai flight FZ1073?

The flight was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with more than 170 passengers when a violent altercation took place on the flight deck. flydubai has confirmed the altercation and said other crew members travelling aboard the aircraft helped secure the plane before it diverted to Saudi Arabia.

The aircraft transmitted the emergency code 7700 and later 7500, which signals unlawful interference or a hijacking situation. It eventually landed safely at Tabuk in Saudi Arabia.

Israeli officials say a co-pilot attacked another pilot and attempted to crash the aircraft. Saudi and Emirati authorities are investigating the incident, and the motive has not been independently established.

Netanyahu meets Yaniv after passengers return

The passengers were later flown from Saudi Arabia to Israel. Netanyahu met Yaniv at Ben Gurion Airport and praised the passengers and crew members who intervened.

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