The story now seems to be that it was an Israeli plumber who pulled the first officer out of the Flydubai 1073 cockpit and then recovered the Boeing 737 Max from an unusual attitude (nose-down). All of Yaniv Hayoun’s flight training was from watching a TV show, Mayday: Air Disaster (your blog host is interviewed in Season 20, Episode 5 (“Atlantic Ditching”) of this show on Peacock, but unfortunately everything intelligent that I said regarding the Sikorsky S-92 avionics design was cut).
He then called his friends for help, putting the assailant in a chokehold before dragging him out from the cockpit and grabbing the controls in an incredible show of bravery.
When the plane began to level as he gripped the controls, an off-duty pilot told Yaniv that he would take it from there.
Since you can’t spit in the street without hitting a college graduate, including in Israel, it seems safe to surmise that this flight was packed with college grads. Could we ask for better proof about the uselessness-in-practice of college graduates? Whatever thinking they might do can now be done better by LLMs. When action is called for, it is the tradesman who acts.
Separately, now that I realize how easy it is for Pilot A to stab Pilot B, I am now surprised that none of the Delta/Comair captains ever stabbed me. It’s a straightforward way to deal with a lot of first officer issues.
Related:
- My visual approach, and Asiana’s (potential stabbing situation on the “Captain Sully route” of LGA to CLT)
- Asiana 214: Training with passengers in the back? (approach/landing in Toronto that didn’t flip the CRJ over, but definitely would have justified a stabbing)
> He then called his friends for help, putting the assailant in a chokehold …
The real question we should be asking, is how Yaniv Hayoun knew to execute a chokehold and where he learned the technique. I would argue that he learned it during his military service, given that military service is required of all Israeli citizens, including women.
Figured the mandatory conscription of all of Israelis led to a better outcome than than it would have been in US. Noted it was a woman who 1st discovered the cockpit fight, but deferred the task of overpowering the terrorist & saving the plane to her husband. At least the guy’s name was Manes. Must have been quite terrifying to get in the cockpit as the g forces dropped & the floor tilted.