Mum on Flydubai flight didn’t know ‘which child to hug first’ as plane plummeted

| Freelance News Reporter Published October 4, 2026 1:23pm Updated October 4, 2026 1:24pm Lital Hirschl-Shahar said she ‘couldn’t breathe’ as disaster struck onboard Flydubai 1073 with her four daughters A mum onboard Flydubai flight 1073 said she ‘saw death coming’ and ‘couldn’t breathe’ as the plane plummeted 17,000ft. Lital Hirschl-Shahar said she didn’t know which of her daughters to hug first as the flight was thrown into chaos en route to Tel Aviv, Israel. First officer Hamam al-Hammami is accused of striking Indian captain Smit Machchhar with an axe and attempting to crash the aircraft. Hirschl-Shaha was seated in the 10th row of the Boeing 737 Max and felt ‘no blood in my face’ as her daughters told her she looked ‘grey in the face’. The mum, 39, said she told her children they were ‘in God’s hands’ as disaster struck the flight carrying more than 180 people. Captain Smit Machchhar was stabbed with an axe by first officer Hamam al-Hammami Sign up for all of the latest stories Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens. She told the Daily Mail: ‘As a mum, I didn’t care about myself. I was just worried about the four souls that were with me there. ‘”What can I do? Who should I hold first? Whose hand to hold first? Who should I hug? How do I do that?’” ‘I tried to stay calm for my girls,’ she added, ‘but the screams were ones you can never forget.’ Another mother, Tali Manes, was accompanying her daughter, six, to the toilet when they heard heavy blows coming from the flight deck. Hirschl-Shahar’s children screamed, ‘Father, no! Come back,’ as they saw four men run onto the flight deck, she recalled. Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 showed the flight descended from 34,000ft to 16,600ft in two minutes. Hamam Al-Hammami, 29, had been banned from flying by Oman Air and had also completed a degree at a UK university (Picture: LinkedIn) It would have felt like a ‘vertical roller ‌coaster’, aviation simulation experts told Reuters, as anything unsecured would have flown all over the cabin. While the plane was in a steep nose-dive, passengers got out from their seats and burst into the cockpit to wrestle the co-pilot. Two off-duty pilots, who had been travelling in the cabin, helped land the aircraft in Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia. Hirschl-Shahar added that, despite frosty relations between the country and Israel, passengers were treated warmly on arrival. Flydubai suspended all operations to Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, the airline said last week. Al-Hammami had trained at his nation’s flag carrier, Oman Air, but was moved to an administrative role due to concerns over his extreme views. He had also completed a distance-learning degree in aviation management at Buckinghamshire New University, the uni told Metro. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: UAE threatens to stop billions of UK investments after Manchester City guilty verdict Arrow MORE: Ireland press conference cut short after Israeli questions about Flydubai attack and racism Arrow MORE: Flydubai ‘attacker’ was ‘religious extremist who refused to shake hands with women’ News Updates Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.