What started out as a routine Dubai to Tel Aviv flight yesterday morning turned into anything but.

About two hours into the flight, it appears the co-pilot stabbed the pilot several times, likely with an axe, then put the plane, with nearly 180 Israelis onboard, into a steep descent that nearly downed the aircraft by dropping more than 3 miles in about a minute.

The injured pilot was somehow able to both put out a Mayday signal that a hijacking was in place and open the cockpit door before collapsing. Several passengers stormed the cockpit, subdued the terrorist, and treated the pilot’s wounds, which were severe.

Most importantly, one of the passengers took the plane’s controls and brought the aircraft out of the steep dive. This allowed an off-duty pilot who was onboard the aircraft to take control and safely land the plane in northern Saudi Arabia. Israel, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia all mobilized fighter jets to monitor the situation.

This could have had a very different ending:

• If the pilot hadn’t taken quick action, in spite of his injuries. . .
• If the passenger who righted the plane (who was a plumber by vocation) hadn’t watched videos of how this was done. . .
• If there hadn’t been additional pilots on board to land the plane. . .
• If there hadn’t been a passenger with medical training available to save the injured pilot’s life. . .
• If Saudi Arabia, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, hadn’t allowed the plane to land. . .

Possibly the worst scenario: If the hijacker had managed to get into Israeli airspace and aimed at a heavily populated area, the Israeli Air Force would have been forced to decide between possibly allowing a 9/11-type mass casualty event or shooting down a plane filled with Israeli civilians. What a horrible choice that would have been.

But everything DID go right. In spite of major damage to the plane’s tail, the aircraft landed safely. The Saudis treated the passengers and crew extremely well and helped get them back on a rescue flight. For the first time in history, a flight flew from Saudi Arabia to Israel. The injured pilot is recovering in a Saudi hospital, and the hijacker is being held in custody in the UAE. With a plane full of Israelis, no surprise that there were both current and former IDF soldiers ready to jump into action when needed.

Of course, there are already conspiracy theories about how this was planned by Israel (really?), as well as media outlets calling this a mere “altercation” between pilots. Makes you wonder what language they would have used to describe 9/11—”multiple altercations in several American locations”?

But given what we know so far, I’d call this a modern day miracle. Move over, Sully Sullenberger, you’ve got company.

Let us help your business rise to the top.

linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com