Israeli Mother Instructs Daughters to Pray During Flight Hijacking

<p>An Israeli mother was aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 with her four daughters when the copilot attempted to hijack the plane. She instructed her daughters to "pray" as the situation unfolded.</p><p>Lital Hirschl-Shahar, 39, was returning home from a family vacation in Singapore and Thailand with her daughters, aged 14, 11, seven, and five. She became aware of a problem when she heard a passenger near the front of the plane shouting that the pilot had been attacked.</p><p>“We heard a lady in business class shouting. She sounded so terrified, in a way I’ll never forget,” Hirschl-Shahar told The New York Post. “It all happened so fast, and the plane just started dropping down. It was so scary and crazy … We all thought we were going to die.”</p><p>“I was talking to God nonstop, believing prayer was the only thing that could save us. I told my daughters to pray, too,” she continued. “We needed a miracle, and I couldn’t help but think, ‘Is this how you’re going to die? Is this how your girls are going to die?’”</p><p>Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, despite his injuries, managed to open the cockpit door. Several Israeli passengers then intervened. Plumber Yaniv Hayoun, who later informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he had learned what to do from watching “Air Crash Investigations,” pulled the copilot out of the cockpit as he attempted to disable the aircraft’s instruments.</p><p>While others subdued the copilot, Hayoun returned to the cockpit and stabilized the plane's descent. Another passenger, who identified himself as a pilot, took over the controls.</p><p>Hayoun remained in the cockpit to monitor the situation, concerned that others might be involved in the copilot’s alleged plan. He felt relieved when the pilot communicated with ground control, reporting on the injured pilot and requesting medical assistance upon landing.</p><p>The plane initially landed in Saudi Arabia, and passengers were later transferred to another flight to Tel Aviv, their intended destination.</p><p>“It was just a miracle wrapped in a miracle wrapped in a miracle,” Hirschl-Shahar said after returning home safely.</p>