Flydubai passengers prepare multi-million-dollar lawsuit after co-pilot cockpit attack

Passengers who survived a mid-air attack on a Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv are preparing a multi-million-pound legal claim against the carrier, the Israeli government and aviation regulators.

Around 100 of the 174 passengers on board flight FZ1073 have signed powers of attorney appointing a steering committee to pursue compensation. The group has begun interviewing law firms in Israel and abroad to represent them in claims that could seek hundreds of millions of dollars.

The committee was set up in an impromptu WhatsApp group formed as passengers touched down at Ben Gurion Airport following their repatriation. Roughly 70 travellers originally asked Tzvika Manes, the chief executive of Bank Leumi's underwriting arm who helped overpower the attacker, to coordinate the effort.

The steering committee also includes Singapore-based lawyer Tal Eisenberg, alongside fellow passengers Daniel Schlichter, Itay Perlman and Shir Maor.

What happened on flight FZ1073

The flight took off from Dubai on 29 September headed for Tel Aviv. Mid-flight, the co-pilot stabbed the captain and threw the aircraft into a steep dive.

Passenger Tali Manes heard shouting from the flight deck and alerted other travellers to intervene. Several rushed the cockpit, where they found the pilot under attack. One passenger, Yaniv Hayun, helped stabilise the falling aircraft while others, including Tzvika Manes, pinned down the attacker and gave first aid to the wounded captain.

An off-duty airline pilot travelling as a passenger on board then helped fly the aircraft into an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The passengers were later flown home to Israel.

Who the lawsuits will target

The passenger committee is now weighing claims against Flydubai, Israel's Ministry of Transport, and potentially civil aviation authorities in the United Arab Emirates. Other jurisdictions could be brought in, as several people on board hold foreign citizenship.

The group is also examining whether the incident breached flight security protocols established under the Abraham Accords, the 2020 normalisation agreements between Israel and the UAE that opened commercial air corridors between the two countries.

Lawyers advising the group face an almost unprecedented scenario: an attempted hijacking by an operating flight-crew member in which passengers broke into the cockpit to save the aircraft from crashing. The remaining 74 passengers have not yet joined the collective action, though the committee plans to share its initial findings before deciding whether to lodge the case as a unified class action or let individuals sue separately.