Dr. Shota Musaev, the physician who treated the wounded pilot during the attempted terror attack aboard flydubai Flight FZ1073 en route to Israel, recounted the mid-air horror during an interview with Channel 14 News on Wednesday evening, emphasizing that the passengers’ lightning-fast reaction averted a catastrophic disaster.
According to Musaev, the ordeal unfolded abruptly when the assailant launched his assault on the flight deck: “It didn’t start quietly inside the cockpit; someone breached the flight deck. The pilot was attacked, and within seconds the aircraft began banking violently in the air. At first, we assumed it was severe air turbulence, but within moments we realized it was a terror attack.”
2+He described how passengers rushed toward the front galley to overpower the assailant: “A guy named Yaniv managed to pull the attacker out of the cockpit. If the attacker had succeeded in locking that cockpit door, we probably wouldn’t be here right now. After that, we started tying him down, while Yaniv stepped inside the cockpit and locked the door from within to prevent any secondary breach.”
While the attacker was being restrained, Dr. Musaev administered emergency trauma care to the wounded pilot: “He lost a massive amount of blood. He had sustained injuries to his head and arms, and the top priority was arresting the hemorrhaging. He remained conscious throughout the entire ordeal, and I spoke to him continuously while providing treatment.”
2+The physician explained that the passengers’ greatest fear during the chaotic confrontation was the presence of hidden accomplices: “We were terrified he wasn’t acting alone. We instructed passengers to spread out across the aisles so that no secondary operative could pull a knife and attack. There was screaming, crying, and children in deep distress, but we worked simultaneously to calm everyone down and reassure them that the attacker was subdued and under control.”
Musaev noted that the gravity of the situation became unmistakable within seconds: “Within 10 to 15 seconds, everyone realized it was a stabbing attack and that he was attempting to crash or seize the aircraft. The entire entrance to the cockpit was covered in blood, but the other pilot took the controls and flew the aircraft safely.”
2+Concluding the interview, Dr. Musaev noted that while official investigations will determine whether the terrorist acted with external accomplices, the decisive courage shown by ordinary Israeli passengers at 30,000 feet was the definitive factor that prevented an unspeakable