FlyDubai Hero Passenger Credits Canadian Docuseries for Helping Avert Midair Disaster

A hero passenger aboard Wednesday’s FlyDubai flight who claims to have stormed the cockpit and fought off an alleged attacker has reportedly credited a docuseries out of Canada for showing him how to take over the flight controls and avert a catastrophic mid-air descent.

According to CNN Worldwide, Yaniv Hayoun told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that, after helping subdue the alleged attacker, he returned to the cockpit to grab the plane’s controls. And Amit Segal, a chief political analyst for Israel’s N12 News network, wrote on his X account: “The hero of the FlyDubai attack Yaniv said, I pulled back on the controls and stopped the plane’s dive. Good thing I watched ‘Air Crash Investigation.'”

Mayday, aka Air Crash Investigations, is a reality TV series produced by Cineflix Productions that, over 26 seasons, has dramatized real-life airplane crashes, near-crashes, hijackings and bombings. Series recreations that use cockpit voice recorders, accident reports and eyewitness accounts for accuracy offer a behind-the-scenes look at the world’s most catastrophic aviation accidents to reveal clues that may prevent similar tragedies from happening again, according to a synopsis from the producers.

Representatives for Cineflix could not be reached for comment by The Hollywood Reporter. The Mayday series for Discovery Canada, National Geographic Channels and Canal D is distributed internationally by Cineflix Rights.

Hayoun met with Netanyahu on Wednesday after he and fellow passengers returned to Israel after the ordeal aboard the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight. Netanyahu claimed a pilot on the FlyDubai flight had been arrested for allegedly stabbing his co-pilot and attempting to crash the airplane. Media reports point to the aircraft having dramatically dropped 17,400 feet in under two minutes, before the plane was able to stabilize in flight.