Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Three days after two off-duty pilots stepped in to help save a FlyDubai flight bound for Israel, their identities have still not been made public. The airline has described them only as on-duty crew members travelling on the aircraft, which was carrying 182 people when it went into a steep plunge.
One passenger has now given one of the clearest accounts yet of what happened. Daniel Schlichter, who was seated in the second row, told The Associated Press that the two men acted after passengers realised there was violence inside the cockpit and the plane was heading towards disaster.
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Schlichter said the presence of the two extra pilots was itself unusual. “This is one of the miracles,” he said. “That not in every flight they bring two extra pilots. In this case, they brought them because they should have brought the plane back from Tel Aviv to Dubai, and this is the only reason they were there.” The practice is called deadheading.
According to Schlichter, screaming passengers became aware that the co-pilot was repeatedly attacking the captain and that there was blood everywhere. He said the captain, despite being badly wounded, managed to unlock the cockpit door. After a passenger pulled the co-pilot out and others struggled with him to subdue him, one of the travelling pilots rushed forward and took control of the plane. “He was actually kind of jumping above the guys that were handling the terrorist, and he reached out to the pilot area and started to take over,” Schlichter said. “And then the other guy, the other pilot, joined in and they closed the door because they didn’t want anybody else to be there.”
Schlichter said he did not know who the men were, but praised the first pilot’s response. “He acted really like a hero, taking over the plane and reacted like he understood exactly what is going on, and I think we owe him our lives not less than the other heroes that went on the flight,” he said. Once both men were inside the cockpit, Schlichter said he could not tell who did what. He said it took “quite a lot of minutes”, perhaps 10 or more, to stabilise the aircraft after a descent so severe that part of its rudder was torn away. A mayday call was then made as the men urgently looked for a place to land.
Even after the plane had been stabilised, some passengers remained uneasy because there was no immediate communication from the cockpit. “After they managed to stabilize the airplane, actually they did not have any communication with us, and I have to tell you, I was worried about this,” Schlichter said. He said he feared the men might be “hijacking the plane into maybe Iran, or I don’t know where, because we’re actually not too far.” About 45 minutes later, the pilots announced that the aircraft would land in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, and that everything was going to be OK. Schlichter said he then decided to trust them, and that trust proved right, as the two still-unidentified pilots helped bring the flight under control and to safety.
With PTI Inputs
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
