How a Six-Year-Old Girl Helped Avert Disaster on a Flight to Israel
A six-year-old Israeli girl's routine trip to the restroom helped foil a mid-air cockpit attack on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, making headlines in the UK.
The story of six-year-old Nina Manes, who was aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv with her family, has made headlines in the United Kingdom. The Independent dedicated an extensive report to Manes and the moment her routine request to use the restroom unexpectedly helped alert passengers to a struggle unfolding inside the cockpit.
Nina asked her mother, Tali, to accompany her to the restroom just as the Omani co-pilot attacked the Indian captain, Smith Machar. When the two reached the front area of the aircraft, the mother heard shouting from the cockpit and realized an unusual incident was taking place.
Chaos in the Cockpit
Tali recounted that she saw a significant amount of blood inside the cockpit and alerted passengers and crew members. "I shouted: 'He is stabbing the pilot, he is stabbing the pilot, come help,'" she told Channel 12. According to her, people around her did not initially understand what was happening.
"Dad, we don't want to die"
Among the passengers who rushed toward the cockpit was Nina's father, Zvika Manes. According to him, the screams of his daughters as the plane began to dive were what made him run forward.
"The screams of my daughters as the plane dived are still with me," he said. He described how they shouted, "Dad, we don't want to die," prompting him to spring into action and rush toward the cockpit.
Emergency Landing in Saudi Arabia
At those moments, the aircraft descended thousands of meters while a group of passengers managed to reach the cockpit area and subdue the co-pilot. The captain, who was injured and covered in blood, managed to unlock the door mechanism, allowing help to reach him.
The incident concluded after passengers overpowered the attacker, and other crew members successfully brought the plane for a safe landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The British newspaper Independent presented Nina as playing a "crucial role" in preventing a disaster, as her need for the restroom placed her mother near the cockpit precisely when the attack began.
