Hero Who Put Terrorist Pilot In Chokehold, Leveled The Plane & Saved Everyone’s Life On Hijacked Flydubai Flight Tells Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu How He Did It While Wearing His Blood-Stained Shirt [VIDEOS]

September 30, 2026, 3:11pm EST 755 • By Darrelle Lincoln

Yaniv Hayun achieved hero status by stopping a terrifying mid-air disaster aboard a Flydubai flight bound for Israel. During the flight, an Omani co-pilot stabbed the aircraft’s captain and sent the jet into a rapid nosedive.

Click for sound 0:00 / 0:00 The attacker also desperately attempted to destroy the cockpit’s flight instruments to disable the plane completely. Realizing something was deeply wrong, Hayun and a small group of passengers fought their way inside. He aggressively grabbed the knife-wielding attacker, locked him in a chokehold, and forcefully dragged him away.

Subsequently, he courageously pulled back on the main controls to stop the plane from plummeting. He remarkably knew exactly how to level out the diving aircraft from watching a television documentary.

Another flight crew member then safely took command and successfully diverted the plane to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially met the brave passenger at Ben Gurion Airport and labeled him a true hero.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with brave passenger Yaniv Hayun at Ben Gurion Airport this week.

Hayun explicitly detailed the terrifying cockpit struggle while still wearing a shirt heavily stained with blood. He explained that a stabbed pilot managed to open the cockpit door right before collapsing on the floor.

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Once inside, Hayun saw the uncooperative Omani co-pilot desperately trying to destroy the aircraft’s vital instrument panels. “I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and pulled him out,” Hayun vividly recalled.

He quickly screamed for assistance from other passengers to fully secure and restrain the aggressive assailant.

Amid the story, he apologized to Netanyahu for his messy appearance, but the leader insisted it was an absolute honor. “We are a nation of lions,” Hayun proudly declared when describing the unified spirit of the passengers.

Netanyahu warmly hugged the passenger and officially declared him an unbelievable, great Israeli hero.