Passengers on Fly Dubai flight FZ1073 landed Wednesday evening at Ben Gurion Airport, hours after a dramatic mid-air attack and emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Upon their return to Israel, they recounted to our reporter the moments when they realized their lives were in danger—and the struggle that ended with the passengers’ rescue.
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“I choked the attacker,” recounted one of the passengers who actively took part in overpowering the assailant. According to his testimony, the perpetrator “was actively trying to smash the flight instruments and bring the airplane down.” The passenger described the extraordinary hand-to-hand combat between heaven and earth after the attacker stabbed the captain and attempted to sabotage critical avionics systems.
Other passengers recalled the sheer sensation of helplessness and vertigo inside the cabin during the struggle. “I was sitting next to the window, and the airplane suddenly inverted violently over us,” one flyer recounted. Another struggled to process the traumatic ordeal: “It feels so good to be home. You think you’re in a movie; you just can’t believe this is happening to you.”
Alongside the shock, travelers expressed profound gratitude that the incident concluded without mass tragedy. “Thank God it’s over. Sometimes you end up part of a grim statistic,” remarked one passenger shortly after clearing the arrivals gate at Ben Gurion.
According to Channel 14 correspondent Atay Shalev, reporting from the terminal, multiple passengers headed directly from the jet bridge to the airport synagogue to recite Birkat HaGomel—the traditional Jewish blessing of thanksgiving following deliverance from grave danger—and offer thanks for their miraculous rescue.