I was trying to follow this story yesterday to give updates as more became known. What I quickly saw, though, was that "known" info became contradictory as well as fragmentary, so I gave up and decided to wait until today when info might be fairly correct. This article still fragments the story,
, but at least it appears to be pretty much correct,
:
The hero who stopped Israel’s 9/11https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/pilot-stabbed-suspected-hijacking-israel-135034028.htmlThe drama started around two-and-a-half hours after the flight left Dubai, when the plane sent an emergency alert, according to publicly available flight tracking information.
The flight then descended abruptly before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, about an hour later.
At one stage the aircraft plunged into a nosedive, descending 15,000ft in 37 seconds, presumably as the pilots struggled for control.
The plane broadcast an alert shortly afterwards for "unlawful interference", usually used for hijacking, leading to Israel scrambling fighter jets.
Reports suggest the co-pilot "repeatedly stabbed the captain" with a penknife.
The hero, identified on Wednesday night as Yaniv Hayun, said: "When I went in, I saw the terrorist on the controls, between the two seats. There were no pilots in the seats.
"I grabbed the terrorist, put him in a hold, and first of all pulled him outside."
Mr Hayun said he called for other passengers to help hold back the co-pilot before rushing back into the cockpit to steady the plane.
"I jumped back in there, grabbed the controls, started pulling the controls," he said, adding that another pilot later took over from him and landed the plane.
After Mr Hayun briefly took control of the plane, two other relief pilots on board took over, according to reports. There was a suggestion that one of the relief pilots was British, although this has not been confirmed.
Israeli security officials have told The Telegraph the terrorist may have planned to crash the plane into an Israeli city.
Three separate sources said that a September 11-style attack was a major line of inquiry.
I pieced together the segments into something more or less chronological. A few key facts are missing (as best I can tell):
* The pilot who was stabbed is, contrary to an early report, Indian. Last I heard, he is in critical condition but expected to live;
* During the stabbings and srtuggle, the stabbed pilot managed to unlock the door between the cockpit and the passengers;
* The two pilots who took over the plane were pilots from another airline who just happened to be dead-heading to their next flight.
