Ode to a plumber

‘My kind of guy’: Trump posts video thanking flydubai hero

'He's a Trump fan and I'm a fan of his,' says US president in TikTok clip praising Yaniv Hayun, who helped subdue attacker and then managed to level out the passenger jet as it nosedived

By ToI Staff Today, 1:48 pm
Passenger Yaniv Hayun, with bloodstains on his shirt, one of the Israelis who helped subdue a flydubai copilot who allegedly sought to hijack and crash a plane full of Israelis, at Ben Gurion Airport, September 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)

“I’m a fan of his,” said US President Donald Trump in a video posted to his TikTok account late Friday night, thanking and congratulating Yaniv Hayun, the Israeli plumber who helped subdue the flydubai copilot who tried to hijack the Wednesday morning flight to Tel Aviv.

“I just want to thank and congratulate Yaniv Hayun,” Trump said in the video. The US president previously marveled at the account of Hayun’s heroics just a day after the attack.

“He’s a Trump fan and I’m a fan of his,” the US president said. “A big fan.”

“He saved that flight,” Trump added. “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,” he added. “He’s a hero.”

“You like me and I like you,” Trump said, addressing Hayun.  “Thank you Yaniv.”

Passengers on the flight reached Israel safely on Wednesday after customers and crew foiled the copilot’s attempt to crash the aircraft. The struggle on flight FZ1073 began when he stabbed the pilot and sent the jet plunging nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 meters) in less than 30 seconds.

The flight was carrying around 180 passengers, nearly all of them Israeli.

Hayun, one of three Israeli passengers who helped subdue the attacker, has recounted how he entered the cockpit, dragged the suspected assailant away from the controls and then helped stabilize the nosediving aircraft.

Meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion Airport after returning to Israel, Hayun said he and another man forced their way into the cockpit, where the wounded pilot was lying near the door.

“When I went in, I saw the terrorist on the controls, between the two seats. There were no pilots in the seats,” he recounted. “I grabbed the terrorist, put him in a hold, and first of all pulled him outside,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Yaniv Hayun, one of the Israelis who helped subdue a flydubai copilot who allegedly sought to hijack and crash a plane full of Israelis, on the passengers’ return to Ben Gurion Airport on September 30, 2026. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Hayun said he called other Israelis on the flight to help hold back the man before returning to the cockpit as the aircraft was tilting sharply.

“I jumped back in there, grabbed the controls, started pulling the controls,” he said, explaining that he pulled backward and quipping that he knew what to do because “I watch ‘Mayday,’” referring to a Canadian documentary television program that examines air crashes.

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