Passenger Describes Chaos Aboard FlyDubai Flight
New York Times
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New York Times
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A passenger aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073 described terrifying moments as the aircraft lost control following a cockpit altercation, before passengers subdued the attacker and the plane landed safely in Saudi Arabia. The witness account provides one of the first detailed testimonies from those aboard during the dramatic incident Wednesday morning.
Passenger Describes Chaos Aboard FlyDubai Flight - The New York Times
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Middle East|Passenger Describes Chaos Aboard FlyDubai Flight
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/world/middleeast/flydubai-flight-israel-plane-passenger.html
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Passenger Describes Chaos Aboard FlyDubai Flight
The passenger, Miriam Ohayon, said people on board felt the jet lose control and heard screams. “When they opened the cockpit, there was a lot of blood,” she told Israeli television.
Listen · 2:01 min
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*Security vehicles outside Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images*
By David M. Halbfinger and Natan Odenheimer
Reporting from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
Sept. 30, 2026Updated 7:37 a.m. ET
See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google
A passenger on the FlyDubai flight where a clash in the cockpit set off fears of a hijacking Wednesday morning described chaos on board and said that she and others on the plane had thought that it might crash.
The passenger, Miriam Ohayon, spoke to an Israeli television station in one of the first detailed witness accounts to emerge from the plane.
Passengers felt the jet lose control, Ms. Ohayon told Israel’s Channel 24, but some of them intervened to take control. The plane, Flight 1073, which was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, landed safely in Saudi Arabia.
“We heard screams on the plane, and when they opened the cockpit, there was a lot of blood,” she said.
Ms. Ohayon’s mother, Yasmin Ohayon, told The New York Times that a woman sitting next to her daughter was among the first to realize something was wrong. The woman saw people fighting inside the cockpit as she was returning from the bathroom and alerted other passengers, Yasmin Ohayon said at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, where families were gathering to wait for the passengers.
Image
*Yasmin Ohayon-Abuksis at the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Wednesday.Credit...Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images*
“Within a few minutes, our plane completely lost control, and we felt that this was it — we were about to crash,” the younger Ms. Ohayon said, adding that she began reciting a Jewish prayer often said in times of distress.
“I’ve already lost my brother; I can’t do this to my mother,” she said she thought. Her brother, Evyatar Ohayon-Abuksis, a soldier, was killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
She said that passengers had subdued the attacker and that a nurse and doctor on board provided initial medical care to the pilot.
Asked how the passengers had stopped the attacker, Ms. Ohayon said, “I believe with their bare hands inside the cockpit.”
David M. Halbfinger is The Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief, leading coverage of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. He also held that post from 2017 to 2021. He was the politics editor from 2021 to 2025.
Natan Odenheimer is a Times reporter in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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Middle East|Passenger Describes Chaos Aboard FlyDubai Flight
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/world/middleeast/flydubai-flight-israel-plane-passenger.html
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**LIVE** Follow our live coverage Sept. 30, 2026, 7:37 a.m. ET3m ago
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Passenger Describes Chaos Aboard FlyDubai Flight
The passenger, Miriam Ohayon, said people on board felt the jet lose control and heard screams. “When they opened the cockpit, there was a lot of blood,” she told Israeli television.
Listen · 2:01 min
*
*
*
*Security vehicles outside Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images*
By David M. Halbfinger and Natan Odenheimer
Reporting from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
Sept. 30, 2026Updated 7:37 a.m. ET
See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google
A passenger on the FlyDubai flight where a clash in the cockpit set off fears of a hijacking Wednesday morning described chaos on board and said that she and others on the plane had thought that it might crash.
The passenger, Miriam Ohayon, spoke to an Israeli television station in one of the first detailed witness accounts to emerge from the plane.
Passengers felt the jet lose control, Ms. Ohayon told Israel’s Channel 24, but some of them intervened to take control. The plane, Flight 1073, which was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, landed safely in Saudi Arabia.
“We heard screams on the plane, and when they opened the cockpit, there was a lot of blood,” she said.
Ms. Ohayon’s mother, Yasmin Ohayon, told The New York Times that a woman sitting next to her daughter was among the first to realize something was wrong. The woman saw people fighting inside the cockpit as she was returning from the bathroom and alerted other passengers, Yasmin Ohayon said at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, where families were gathering to wait for the passengers.
Image
*Yasmin Ohayon-Abuksis at the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Wednesday.Credit...Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images*
“Within a few minutes, our plane completely lost control, and we felt that this was it — we were about to crash,” the younger Ms. Ohayon said, adding that she began reciting a Jewish prayer often said in times of distress.
“I’ve already lost my brother; I can’t do this to my mother,” she said she thought. Her brother, Evyatar Ohayon-Abuksis, a soldier, was killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
She said that passengers had subdued the attacker and that a nurse and doctor on board provided initial medical care to the pilot.
Asked how the passengers had stopped the attacker, Ms. Ohayon said, “I believe with their bare hands inside the cockpit.”
David M. Halbfinger is The Times’s Jerusalem bureau chief, leading coverage of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. He also held that post from 2017 to 2021. He was the politics editor from 2021 to 2025.
Natan Odenheimer is a Times reporter in Jerusalem, covering Israeli and Palestinian affairs.
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Tags:#فلاي دبي#حادث طيران#الشرق الأوسط#إسرائيل#السعودية
Source: New York Times
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