Tel Aviv, Oct 1. (dpa/GNA) – Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, plans to nominate four passengers who helped overpower an attacker on a Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv for the Presidential Medal for Civil Courage, his office said on Thursday.
Herzog spoke with the four Israeli passengers on Wednesday, after the dramatic incident, in which they praised for helping prevent the aircraft from crashing.
The Flydubai flight was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when violence erupted in the cockpit.
The co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain with a knife, as the plane went into a dangerous nosedive.
Herzog named the passengers as Yaniv Hayoun, Shota Musayev, Zvika Manes, and Asaf Rajuan. “You put yourselves at risk to save others and prevented a terrible disaster. Today, the whole world saw the beautiful and courageous face of Israeli society,” Herzog said. Herzog confers the medal, Israel’s highest civilian award for heroism, while the nominees are formally selected by a committee.
Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, suffered serious stab wounds, but managed to resist his alleged attacker and open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to overpower the co-pilot.
“The swift action of the passengers and crew averted a major disaster,” the statement said.
Musayev, a dentist who administered first aid to the seriously injured Indian pilot, told the president that all the passengers on board had acted heroically. “We supported one another on the plane and also when we arrived in Saudi Arabia, and we took care of each other as we should,” he said.
Fellow passenger Rajuan, described an “extraordinary incident.
” The passengers had initially felt helpless,” he said. “But it was all instinct to survive, to save the family, the people, and the children.”
According to media reports, 174 passengers were on board, including 27 children, almost all of them Israeli nationals.
GNA