Flydubai 1073 – The Fate of the Terrorist

It had everything. Terror, extraordinary bravery and a plane seconds from catastrophe. It has received huge attention but one small detail has largely overlooked: once the attacker was restrained, he was given medical treatment.

Flydubai Flight 1073 has become one of the most extraordinary aviation stories in recent memory.

A co-pilot attacked the captain with a cockpit crash axe and apparently attempted to crash an aircraft carrying more than 170 people. The plane plunged thousands of feet in seconds. Passengers and crew subdued the attacker, other pilots took control of the aircraft, and somehow everyone survived.

Almost every aspect of the story has understandably been examined from head to toe.

The courage of the captain. The passengers who intervened. The pilots who took control. The security failures. The terrifying descent. The investigation into the attacker and his motives.

But there is one small part of the story that has received far less attention.

What happened to the terrorist?

He was restrained.

And then he was treated medically.

Think about that for a moment.

This was a man who had allegedly just tried to kill everyone on that aircraft. The passengers had experienced sheer terror. They had watched their plane plunge towards the ground. Some presumably believed they were living the final seconds of their lives.

They overpowered him.

But they did not kill him.

Once he was no longer a threat, people reportedly administered first aid not only to the badly injured captain, but to his attacker as well.

Perhaps many people will read that and think: Of course they did.

I do too.

And perhaps that is precisely the point.

There is something deeply embedded in the values with which many of us were raised: stop the person trying to kill you, certainly. Defend yourself, absolutely. But when the threat has ended, the situation changes.

The terrorist does not suddenly become innocent.

His alleged actions do not become less horrific.

He must face justice.

But he remains a human being.

I am not suggesting that one incident on one aircraft somehow settles the accusations thrown at Israel over the past three years. It doesn’t. Nor do I need Flight 1073 to convince me that Israel did not set out to commit genocide after October 7. I have never believed that it did.

But this tiny, almost overlooked detail speaks to something much deeper.

People sometimes talk about Israeli society as though cruelty is embedded within us. As though Israelis are indifferent to human life. As though dehumanising an enemy comes naturally.

Yet here were ordinary people who had just come within seconds of potentially being murdered.

When their attacker was dangerous, they fought him.

When he was restrained, they treated him.

That distinction matters enormously.

There will be investigations into Flight 1073 for years. There will be questions about aviation security, radicalisation, cockpit procedures and how such an extraordinary event was allowed to happen.

There will also, rightly, be stories about heroes.

But tucked quietly inside this enormous international story is another story about values.

They stopped the man who tried to kill them.

And then they helped keep him alive.

That is not weakness.

That is who we should aspire to be.