Flydubai passenger hails ‘miracles’ of heroic Israelis and off-duty pilots aboard hijacked plane

Lital Shahar, a passenger on the flydubai plane that landed safely this evening in Tel Aviv, says two miracles saved her life along with the lives of her four girls and many of the Israelis aboard.

“It was so scary to death on the plane. I felt sick. There are no words to describe what we experienced. Imagine I’m a mother and had my four girls next to me,“ Shahar from Givat Shmuel tells The Times of Israel. “We were sitting fairly toward the front in row 10, so we were very close and could hear people screaming that there was a stabbing.”

“There were two miracles — that Israelis were on the plane who heroically went into the cockpit… and that there were off-duty pilots onboard who could land the plane in Saudi Arabia,” Shahar recounts with great relief.

Shahar expresses her gratitude for the warm welcome that passengers received at Saudi Arbai’s Tabuk airport after the flydubai flight succeeded in making an emergency landing.

“We immediately felt safe because they were really amazing and generous,” says Shahar. “So many soldiers and nurses and doctors. They all spoke English and helped us.”

“They didn’t stop saying, ‘You are in a safe place now,’” says Shahar.