Yaniv Hayoun, an Israeli plumber, is receiving praise from the highest levels of government after helping subdue a hijacker aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073.
President Donald Trump took to TikTok late Friday to personally thank Hayoun for his extraordinary actions during the harrowing midair incident earlier that week.
Trump praised Hayoun effusively in the video post, making clear his admiration for the ordinary man who stepped into an extraordinary situation without hesitation.
“He saved that flight,” Trump said. “He got in there and he learned how to fly from watching Air Disasters on television, and he’s my kind of guy.”
“He can be my plumber, he can be whatever he wants to be. What a job he did,” Trump added. “He’s a hero.”
Trump also addressed Hayoun directly in the post, referencing the mutual admiration that had sparked the public acknowledgment in the first place.
“You like me and I like you,” Trump said. “Thank you Yaniv.”
The praise followed a meeting between Hayoun, fellow passengers, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which Hayoun reportedly asked Netanyahu to pass along a message to Trump saying he is “crazy about him.”
Still wearing a bloodstained shirt during that meeting, Hayoun recounted how he rushed into the cockpit after a co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and sent the aircraft into a rapid descent.
“I grabbed the terrorist, choked him, and pulled him away from there,” Hayoun said, describing the confrontation with the attacker in vivid detail.
With two other passengers helping restrain the co-pilot, Hayoun said he took hold of the aircraft’s controls as the plane’s nose was pointed dangerously downward toward the ground.
“I stopped the plane from diving,” Hayoun said, explaining that his knowledge of aircraft controls came from watching the documentary series “Mayday.”
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee also met with the group of passengers who helped subdue the attacker at the American embassy in Jerusalem following the incident.
“Israeli plumber who heroically subdued terrorist & grabbed the controls of plane came to the US embassy in Jerusalem,” Huckabee wrote. “I gave him my autographed hat from President Trump. Yaniv & Meital Hayoun inspired the world.”
The Flydubai flight was bound for Tel Aviv when the hijacking attempt unfolded, turning what should have been a routine Wednesday morning flight into a life-or-death struggle at altitude.
