An Israeli plumber who had never flown a plane lifted the control stick of a FlyDubai jet after a co-pilot attacked the flight crew and sent the aircraft into a near-vertical dive, according to President Donald Trump, who told reporters he heard the account directly from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In remarks shared by @clashreport and @townhallcom, the president stated the pilot was stabbed and badly wounded, and that the plumber heard the struggle and rushed forward.
"He was toward the front, where you had security in the back," Trump said. "You know, you had security. And you had another flight crew, but they didn't have time. The plane was going sharply down at an unbelievable angle... so sharp that the rudder ripped off the back of the plane."
Trump described how the flight attendants had been unable to stop the attacker before the plumber intervened. "The pilot was in very bad shape. I guess he still is in very bad shape. But he had the sense to—amazing—to, in a way, he was a hero—to open the door. You know, those doors are solid steel. You can't get them open from outside. He was able to fall back and get the door open and scream."
"And a plumber—an Israeli plumber—never flew a plane. He was rarely in planes. Very rarely flew. An Israeli plumber saw what was happening," Trump continued. "And he saw what was going on, and he heard the screaming."
The president said the plumber, whom he described as physically strong from years of lifting pipes, seized the attacker and pulled him from the controls. "He ripped this guy out of the seat, threw him back. The crowd got him. The passengers got him. Grabbed him. And having never flown a plane, he took the stick, lifted it up, and leveled out the plane before it crashed."
Trump attributed the plumber's knowledge of aviation to an unusual source: the television program "Air Disasters." "He said he watches that show, 'Air Disasters.' You know the show? It's the craziest show. I never want to watch it... but he learned from watching that show sort of how to fly."
The president cautioned that he was passing along what he had heard. "This is the story that I heard. I don't know if it's true, but that's the story that I got from Bibi and from a couple of—probably earlier."
Trump made the remarks in response to a question about the incident aboard the FlyDubai flight, which @CBSNews reported was heading from Dubai to Israel when a co-pilot, according to Israeli officials, may have tried to crash the plane after stabbing the other pilot. A passenger described the chaos: "Suddenly the airplane dropped, massive turbulence for 20, 30..."
The White House Press Pool did not provide additional details beyond the president's remarks.
Israeli journalist Amit Segal, chief political analyst for N12 News, appeared on Fox News' "The Record with Greta Van Susteren" and offered further details, calling the survival of the flight a "miracle on miracle multiplied by miracle."
Speaking with Greta Van Susteren in a segment shared by @NEWSMAX, Segal said the co-pilot was an Omani pilot, "probably with dual citizenship, because there are many, many Emirati pilots who have actually emigrated from somewhere else."
Segal emphasized the security implications. "This is a dramatic loophole in the security, not only of the airports in the Emirates, but worldwide, because we understand now that pilots can actually use the plane as a weapon."
He noted historical precedents: "We have known eight instances in the past of pilots who committed suicide and took with them the entire flight. But here we see for the first time an attempt to commit a suicide attack out of probably anti-Semitism or anti-Israeli sentiment."
Segal recounted the specific factors that he believes allowed the passengers to survive. "The miracle here... is that the pilot that was stabbed by his co-pilot succeeded somehow at the very last moment to open the door, because we know that according to the rules post September 11, post 9-11, the door must be locked at all times. Second, that the former combatants in the Israeli army were actually in the front seats, probably in the business class or on their way to the toilet. So they were there when it happened and they heard the noise from within. The third thing is that there were two pilots on business class, out of no reason... And that's why I think it's a miracle."
When asked if any group had claimed responsibility for the co-pilot, Segal said, "As far as we know, the answer is negative. So we have two options, either that he acted alone, which can happen. The other thing is that Iranians, after so many attempts, have succeeded in finding the Achilles heel of Israel and the Emirates alike."
Segal tied the alleged attack to the broader geopolitical context, calling the flight a symbol of the normalization process between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. "He who wanted to actually crush this very flight from the Emirates to Israel tried to hit the very core, the heart of the normalization process between Israel and the UAE. Now, the Abraham Accords is the jewel in the crown of the entire normalization process in the Middle East."
He added, "This is what peace can look like. This is what a Muslim Jewish cooperation can look like. And that's exactly why fundamentalists and maybe the Iranian regime itself tried to actually hit it."
Van Susteren asked about Saudi Arabia's role in allowing the plane to land and assisting the passengers. Segal described a more complicated picture: "We see that Saudi Arabia allowed a very limited cooperation. It refused, it denied the Israeli request to send a plane of the Israeli Air Force to pick up the passengers. And it insisted that it's going, it would be a second flight by plane."
Segal concluded with a reflection on the cooperation between the Emirati pilot and Israeli passengers. "Just think about the parable, which is that an Emirati pilot and Israeli passengers succeeded together in fighting terrorism. I think the moral is quite clear for everyone."
The account drew the attention of major American political and news figures. @FoxNews announced exclusively that Prime Minister Netanyahu would join Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel to discuss the incident. @NEWSMAX and @CBSNews both covered the developments, while @townhallcom shared the president's remarks. @MarioNawfal addressed the spread of conspiracy theories online, writing simply, "No, the hijacking of the FlyDubai flight was NOT an Israeli false flag."
The underlying events aboard the flight remain under investigation by aviation and security authorities in multiple countries. Details surrounding how the plumber accessed the cockpit and what specific training or knowledge he applied remain unconfirmed. Israeli officials have stated their belief that the co-pilot acted with intent to crash the aircraft, but no formal motive has been established and no organization has claimed responsibility.
The story has gained traction across American conservative media, with the president's own vivid recounting elevating the tale of the Israeli plumber to the center of national discussion. The president's explicit uncertainty about the facts—and his admission that he was repeating what he had been told—has not prevented the anecdote from circulating widely as a symbol of Israeli-American and Emirati-Israeli cooperation against terrorism.
Next News Network could not independently verify the account of the plumber's actions or the events leading up to them.
Our Take
The story emerging from the FlyDubai flight is extraordinary on its face: a co-pilot allegedly stabs his colleague, attempts to crash the aircraft, and is overpowered by passengers who happen to include former Israeli combat soldiers and an ordinary plumber who credits a television show for his knowledge of the controls. The president of the United States relayed this tale to reporters, acknowledging he heard it secondhand. The Israeli journalist Amit Segal called it a miracle. And the moral is clear—peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors is a threat to the Iranian regime and its proxies, and they will attempt to destroy it by any means necessary.
But we must be careful. This story is still developing, and many details are unconfirmed. The president himself said, "I don't know if it's true." While we celebrate the heroism of those who fought back, we should not let the narrative get ahead of the facts. The brave plumber, the wounded pilot, the passengers who subdued a killer—they deserve praise. But so does the truth. As more information emerges, we should let it. The lesson, however, remains: the Abraham Accords are working, and those who hate them will stop at nothing to tear them down.
What we know for certain is that an Emirati pilot and Israeli passengers allegedly fought side by side against terrorism. That cooperation—that alliance—is the greatest rebuke to the forces of intolerance. We will continue to watch this story as it unfolds.
