JERUSALEM (AP) — Who are the mystery pilots who stepped in to stabilize the FlyDubai flight as it hurtled toward disaster?
As of Saturday, three days after the uniformed crew members rushed to the cockpit to steady the Israel-bound plane carrying 182 people after a sickening plummet, they still haven’t been publicly identified. FlyDubai has called them only on-duty crew members traveling on the plane. It’s not clear why the airline hasn’t said more.
One passenger at the front of the plane, though, described the men’s actions in an interview with The Associated Press, giving one of the most detailed accounts of the yet-unsung heroes.
“This is one of the miracles,” said Daniel Schlichter, who was seated in the second row.
“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.” The practice is called deadheading.
The two men responded after screaming passengers discovered what was unfolding in the cockpit. They said the copilot was attacking the captain over and over, and blood was everywhere. The captain, while badly wounded, managed to unlock the cockpit door.
After a passenger grabbed the copilot and pulled him out, and others grappled with the man to subdue him, Schlichter said that one of the traveling pilots practically hurtled the scrum to enter the cockpit and seize 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,” Schlichter said. “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, like others, wasn’t sure where the two men had come from. But whoever the first one was, he moved very quickly.
“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,” Schlichter said.
Once the two entered the cockpit and closed the door, Schlichter wasn’t sure who did what inside. It took “quite a lot of minutes,” maybe 10 or more, to stabilize the plane after a descent so extreme that part of its rudder was torn away.
A mayday call was made as the men frantically sought a place to land.
Meanwhile, some of the frightened and wary passengers wondered about them and whether they could be trusted.
“After they managed to stabilize the airplane, actually they did not have any communication with us, and I have to tell you, I was worried about this,” Schlichter said.
He worried about an even worse situation — that the men might be “hijacking the plane into maybe Iran, or I don’t know where, because we’re actually not too far.”
But after about 45 minutes, he said, the pilots announced that they would be landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, and everything was going to be OK.
With that, Schlichter said, he decided to trust them. And it turned out to be true.
Who are the mystery men who stepped in to keep the FlyDubai plane from crashing? 2026
IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-10-03 15:38:46
Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
