Panic on FlyDubai flight, passenger recounts dramatic moments: I hugged my children because I thought we were falling

A passenger on the Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv told the BBC about the fear he experienced during an incident in the cockpit, when the plane lost more than 17,000 feet of altitude.

Adam Polovincik was traveling with his wife, six-year-old son, and three-year-old daughter. In the first moments of the descent, he said he believed it was turbulence.

But shortly after, the screams heard on the plane made passengers realize the situation was far more serious and that an attack had taken place in the cockpit.

“There’s blood, there’s a stabbing, we need help,” Polovincik recalled of the shouts he heard during the event.

Flight FZ1073 was operating the Dubai–Tel Aviv route on Wednesday when one of the pilots allegedly stabbed his colleague and attempted to take control of the aircraft.

The plane dropped about 17,000 feet in less than two minutes, causing panic in the passenger cabin. Emergency and hijacking alarm signals were then activated, and the aircraft was diverted toward Saudi Arabia.

Polovincik said that amid the chaos, his main thought was of his two children.

He held them in a tight embrace and tried to calm them by telling them everything would turn out fine, even though he himself was struggling not to show fear.

“You just tell them everything is going to be okay,” he said, explaining that he made sure his anxiety did not show on his face or in his voice.

About 10 to 15 minutes later, a passenger at the front announced that the danger had passed and that other crew members were now flying the plane.

According to published accounts, passenger Yaniv Hayun managed to grab the person who had attacked the pilot and remove him from the cockpit, with the help of several other travelers.

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, who had been stabbed, managed to open the cockpit door, giving passengers the opportunity to intervene.

Polovincik described the pilot and the passengers who stepped in to stop the attack as “true heroes.”

“Without him opening the door, perhaps we wouldn’t be talking here right now,” he said, referring to Machchhar.