US President Donald Trump has publicly commented on a mid-air incident involving a flydubai passenger aircraft, suggesting that the co-pilot involved may have been a terrorist or an individual acting irrationally. Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Trump noted that he had discussed the event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the account as an incredible story.
According to the president, the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the pilot during the flight. Trump shared a narrative he received from Netanyahu involving an Israeli passenger, described as a plumber, who intervened despite having no professional flight experience. The president stated that the plumber heard screaming and realized something was wrong on the flight deck. Without prior training, the individual reportedly took the controls, lifted the stick, and successfully leveled the aircraft before it could crash.
Trump acknowledged that he could not independently verify the details of the story provided by Netanyahu, stating, "Now 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." When asked how the plumber knew how to handle the aircraft, Trump recounted that the individual was a frequent viewer of the television program Air Disasters, which he described as "the craziest show," and had learned how to fly from watching it.
The president's comments follow reports of a confrontation between the pilots of a passenger aircraft operating from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Those reports indicated that the incident triggered a hijacking code before the flight ultimately landed in Saudi Arabia. The airline, flydubai, has maintained that the circumstances and motives behind the altercation remain unknown and are currently subject to a formal investigation.
