Israeli Passenger Who Helped Subdue Flydubai Plane Attacker Describes Moments of Chaos

- An Israeli man who helped subdue the suspect in the "Fly Dubai" incident described the moment chaos erupted on board the flight in an exclusive interview with Afaq News Network. Tsvika Mans, the CEO of Barak Leumi, the arm responsible for underwriting at Israel's Leumi Bank, appears in circulated videos on social media showing passengers on the plane subduing the alleged attacker and assisting the injured pilot inside the cockpit.

In a conversation with Afaq News Network reporter Jeremy Diamond, Mans said he was on his way back home with his family after a holiday in Tokyo, which included a stop in Dubai. The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was proceeding normally until the plane was just over an hour away from its final destination.

Mans said, "I took my wife and my 6-year-old daughter to the bathroom... where I heard sounds coming from the cockpit, screaming and fighting, and very unusual noises."

He described how his wife rushed to wake one of the additional pilots on board to alert him to what was happening. At that moment, Mans said his wife saw the cockpit door open and was able to see the pilot being attacked.

He added, "She was screaming frantically: 'Someone is killing the pilot, they are stabbing the pilot.'" The plane dropped sharply for a few minutes before stabilizing, and Mans described how he went to get his daughter out of the bathroom.

Then he and two other passengers rushed to the cockpit to take control of the suspect, while one of the additional pilots had already begun to take over the aircraft's controls. Mans said: "We asked if there was a doctor on board, and there was actually a dentist... he came and saved the Indian captain's life, gave him oxygen, and stopped the bleeding using blankets and all the equipment that was available at the scene."