How Watching a Popular Aviation TV Show Helped a Passenger Help Save Flight 1073

Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayoun, who was aboard a Flydubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, was welcomed at the arrivals gate at Ben Gurion International Airport, Israel, on Wednesday, captured by Tomer Appelbaum/AP.

One passenger aboard the diverted Flydubai flight has pointed to an unlikely source of inspiration behind his miraculous effort to help subdue the alleged attacker and take control of the plane: a TV show which reconstructs real-life air disasters.

After entering the cockpit, Yaniv Hayoun started “pulling back the handles,” he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. The Israeli prime minister asked if he knew how to operate the plane.

“I watch Air Crash Investigation, Mr. Prime Minister — really. The plane started to level out a bit, and then the pilot told me he was taking over the controls from there,” Hayoun said.

The show “Air Crash Investigation” presents a dramatized reconstruction of plane disasters involving fires, hijackings and crashes using aviation experts and eyewitnesses. The name of the show varies across different countries, including “Air Disasters” in the United States.

President Donald Trump marveled at the passenger’s explanation that he knew what to do because he’d watched the TV show, with the US leader saying he doesn’t like to watch the show “because bad things happen.”

“But he said he watches it a lot and he learned from watching that show sort of how to fly,” Trump said. “I think it’s the most amazing stuff.”