On Wednesday, passengers Daniel Schlichter, Zvika Manes, Tal Samuel, and Asaf Rajuan intervened during a terrifying incident on a FlyDubai flight when the co-pilot from Oman attempted to crash the plane by stabbing the captain. The Boeing 737 Max plummeted 14,000 feet in seconds, with intense G-forces described as being like a roller coaster. The passengers rushed to help the injured pilot and subdued the co-pilot, who had been banned from flying in his home country due to concerns about violent behavior. Israeli investigators found social media posts where he expressed intentions to kill Jews, leading officials in the United Arab Emirates to classify the incident as a "terrorist act."
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
It was the first time hero passengers Daniel Schlichter, Zvika Manes, Tal Samuel and Asaf Rajuan had seen each other since those terrifying moments on
"That minute is probably the longest minute of my life," said Schlichter about the plane's terrifying freefall.
asserted
Schlichter → see → freefall
"And the first thing that went up is actually 9/11.
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that → go → ?
And I said, 'How can it be?
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it → say → ?
How can we end this life like that?'
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we → end → that
You see all your life and you think about what is important.
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what → see → life
And just holding my wife's hand and saying, 'If we have to go, we have to go.'
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we → hold → hand
Their Boeing 737 Max was nosediving into the Arabian Desert nearly at the speed of sound.
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Max → nosedive → sound
The co-pilot from Oman had stabbed the captain, grabbed the controls, and tried to crash the plane full of Israeli passengers.
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pilot → stab → passengers
The jet plummeted 14,000 feet in seconds.
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jet → plummet → seconds
They were
, with G-forces Manes described as being "like a roller coaster.
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Manes → describe → coaster
"What they couldn't have known was that inside the locked cockpit,
was fighting for his life, as he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday: "The co-pilot, he wanted to pray.
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he → know → Saturday
And suddenly there was a big blow to the back of my head," Machchhar said.
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Machchhar → be → head
"I did try to stop him, and that's when I gave everything that I had, and just went for the door and opened the door and thankfully people were waiting.
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people → try → door
"Manes and his family were sitting in the first row.
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"Manes → sit → row
His wife had just taken his daughter to the bathroom.
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wife → take → bathroom
"I heard my daughter shouting, 'He's stabbing the pilot.
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He → hear → pilot
He's stabbing the pilot.'
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He → stab → pilot
She was shouting like animal," he said.
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he → shout → animal
At that moment, Rajuan said they thought they were going to die.
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they → say → moment
Schlichter, holding his wife's hand, thought to himself, "'If I have to go, I'll hold her hand as tight as possible, and we'll go together.'
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we → hold → hand
Almost simultaneously, these passengers decided they had to take action.
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they → decide → action
"I saw my daughter and my wife, and I understand that I must run.
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I → see → daughter
I turn, switch to an animal switch, and I feel really like an animal. …
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I → turn → animal
I decided that we are going to survive, try to survive, to save my family," Manes said.
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Manes → decide → family
Tal Samuel said, "Everyone here, on the day-to-day, are super decent and polite people.
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Everyone → say → day
But when you watch the situation, you didn't see a finance person, and you didn't see an insurance guy.
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you → watch → guy
"
Along with an Israeli plumber named Yaniv Hayoun, they ran toward the bleeding captain, whom they called a hero.
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they → name → whom
"Not just because he opened the door.
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he → open → door
Because he had amazing fight with the terrorist.
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he → have → terrorist
He really fight him," said Rajuan.
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Rajuan → fight → him
Then, they piled onto the co-pilot, Hamam al Hamami, who we've now learned had been banned from flying in his home country, Oman, because of concerns
.
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we → pile → concerns
And Israeli investigators say they've uncovered social media posts where he talked about killing Jews.
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he → say → Jews
Officials in the United Arab Emirates now say he'd committed a "terrorist act.
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he → say → act
""I was jumping on him, punching," said Manes.
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Manes → jump → him
"He tried to resist, and we didn't know if he has a knife."
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he → try → knife
With a pack of men struggling at the entrance to the cockpit, just then, Tal Samuel looked up and saw the cockpit was empty.
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cockpit → struggle → cockpit
He remembered he had been sitting next to two off-duty pilots.
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he → remember → pilots
"And the other pilot that came from his seat, because they are blocking the entrance to the cockpit, so that's why he jumped," Samuel said.
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Samuel → come → cockpit
According to Rajuan, the pilot leaned over the chair to grab the controls and right the plane.
uncertain
pilot → accord → plane
But the captain was bleeding out.
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captain → bleed → ?
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
