Flotsam and Jetsam - Passengers Avert Hijack 9/11Style Attack in Mideast

If first day reports are to be believed, always an iffy thing, the co-pilot of an FlyDubai flight loaded with Israeli tourists returning from Dubai stabbed the pilot, and put the plane into a dive. An Israeli passenger managed to force his way into the cockpit, subdue the attacker, evict him from the cockpit, seize the controls and get the airplane back to level flight. Other passengers subdued the attacker, and pilots who were deadheading on the flight then brought the Boeing 737 Max 8 fully under control, and landed the plane in Saudi Arabia. By one report, pulling the plane out of the dive put the plane under stresses far greater than it was designed for, and in fact, part of the plane's tail broke off.

Capt. Ed at Hat Hair calls it Shades of 9/11: FlyDubai Pilot Attempts Hijacking, Mass Destruction. At Twitchy, Flydubai Co-Pilot Stabs Captain Midair — Israeli Passengers Subdue Him Before the Plane Can Crash. Marina Medvin @MarinaMedvin, "A flight from Dubai to Israel was hijacked mid-air by a copilot. Israeli passengers on board rushed the cockpit as the plane plunged and subdued or neutralized the attacker. The plane course was then corrected and safely managed an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia." Quote Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian @manniefabian, "The flydubai flight that landed at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia appears to have sustained damage to the rudder, likely due to the rapid plunge it took amid the incident." Eli Afriat @EliAfriatISR, "According to reports, the details of the mid-air drama have emerged: the co-pilot—acting as an attacker—began stabbing the captain in an attempt to seize control of the plane and crash it, with its passengers on board, into Israeli territory. The captain resisted and activated distress signals. Flight attendants attempted to enter the cockpit, while Israeli passengers who realized what was happening forcibly broke in, subdued the co-pilot, and removed him from the cockpit. The captain, having sustained multiple stab wounds, was incapacitated. Miraculously, two Israeli pilots were on board flying back to Israel; they were the ones who landed the aircraft, which otherwise would have crashed. "A great miracle happened to us today," said one of the passengers. Pictured: An Israeli citizen who helped subdue the attacker, his clothes stained with the wounded captain's blood." PJM's Cathy Salgado asks What Are the Odds? Russian and Ukrainian Pilots Save Hijacked Flight to Israel. From the Telegraph, The hero who stopped Israel’s 9/11. Israel Foreign Ministry @IsraelMFA, "This man is a hero. Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian captain of flydubai Flight 1073, fought back after being stabbed in the cockpit. Despite being severely injured, he managed to unlock the cockpit door - allowing Israeli passengers and the Emirati crew to intervene and save all the passengers. Together, their extraordinary courage saved 174 lives. Indian. Israeli. Emirati. Different nationalities. One extraordinary act of courage."

Israel War Room @IsraelWarRoom, "Israeli hero aboard nearly-hijacked FlyDubai flight FZ 1073: Yaniv Hayoun Hayoun has no background in security. But when he realized there was an attempted hijacking, he knew he had to do something. He ran to the cockpit and physically fought with the co-pilot, who had stabbed the pilot and was attempting to crash the plane. Hayoun put the co-pilot in a chokehold and dragged. him out of the cockpit. Others came over to help restrain him. Hayoun then went back into the cockpit and pulled back on the yoke to pull the plane out of its nosedive. The plane had dropped 17,000+ feet in under two minutes. An off-duty pilot then entered the cockpit and took over the controls, and Haroun went back out to help guard the co-pilot We wish Captain Machchhar a full and speedy recovery." Hat Hair's John Sexton has A First-Hand Account of the Hijacking by One of the Men Who Stopped It. Sister Toldja at RedState calls them Absolute Heroes: Passengers Share Riveting Stories of What Unfolded on FlyDubai Flight. Althouse looks to the NYT, "Asked how the passengers had stopped the attacker, Ms. Ohayon said, 'I believe with their bare hands inside the cockpit.'" "From "Passenger Describes Chaos Aboard FlyDubai Flight/The passenger, Miriam Ohayon, said people on board felt the jet lose control and heard screams. 'When they opened the cockpit, there was a lot of blood,' she told Israeli television" (NYT)." From the Free Bacon, ‘A Nation Like a Lion’—Israeli Airline Passenger Heroics Avert Jihadist Terrorist Attack. ‘Ten guys just jumped to help’ Sundance at CTH, Astonishing Series of Events – Incredible Recovery During FlyDubai Attempted Suicide Pilot Terrorism Event. Hillel Fuld @HilzFuld, "From a military pilot on today’s attempted hijacking. I’ll sum it up for you: Hashem performed an unprecedented miracle today.

And no terrorist incident would be complete without some mealy-mouth wording from the media. Matt Vespa at Town Hall, The Media Had Some Funny Words to Describe the Attempted FlyDubai Hijacking Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze, "Is that what happened, BBC?" Quote BBC News (World) @BBCWorld, "Israel-bound flight diverted after fight between pilots." Bill Melugin @BillMelugin_, "Just a little disagreement!" Quote The New York Times @nytimes, "Breaking news: A plane flying from Dubai to Israel was diverted after an altercation between the pilot and co-pilot, Israeli officials said." CNN @CNN, "A "violent" altercation between two pilots caused a FlyDubai aircraft traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv to divert to Saudi Arabia, sources have told CNN." varifrank @varifrank, "Who you gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes?" Quote Gilead Ini @GileadIni, "Only far-right people could seriously believe this was likely terrorism. The New York Times finest sources understand that it was probably just an innocent stab-the-pilot kill-the-Israelis suicide attempt." At the Babylon Bee, Here's How 'The New York Times' Reported 9 Historic Attacks. Dave Rubin @RubinReport, "Kyle, please, he was a mostly peaceful pilot who mistakenly brought a knife on board, curiously stabbed the captain, and accidentally globalized the intifada." Quote kuz @kylekuzma, "So is mainstream media going to explain to us full context of the pilot that stabbed the other co-pilot or was it just an honest altercation? Never heard of a pilot stabbing another over a “altercation” #smh" Anastasia Volkova @thedutchessil, "100 Israeli passengers vs One Muslim Pilot. What a completely disproportionate response from israel." Jimmy Failla @jimmyfailla, "This hijacking story is INSANE but I’m looking forward to hearing the terrorists side of the story on Miss Rachel today."

VodkaPundit at PJM asks Can We Just Execute This Terrorist Already? "It seems impossible that it's been almost exactly 17 years since U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar!" and opened fire on soldiers at the Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Center in Killeen, Texas."

Capt. Ed reports Iran Regime’s PSA: Nepo Babytollah Wants You to Vote Democrat! and Larry features it in a video, Iran's Hail Mary Plea Just Gave Trump Everything He Needed. Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "They had them at “Death to America.” I expect this new variant will resonate with the target audience." Quote Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley, "It is not a good sign when the IRGC shifts from "Death to America" to "Vote Democratic." The IRGC is reportedly encouraging Americans to vote against the GOP in the midterms." The Alan Sanders Show @AlanJSanders, "How long have I been saying that the only people supporting the IRGC is the Democrat Party and their propaganda wing in the Legacy/mainstream media??" NRO disappointed as The Parade of Hormuz Horribles Fizzles Out. Hat Hair's Dave Strom, Even With the Reopening of the Strait, the Political Fallout Will Remain. Sundance reports President Trump Announces Departure of Remaining U.S. Troops from Iraq. John Sexton has Some Strange Updates on the RAF Fairford Story. Still weird. 

1945 fears Putin’s Next Target May Be NATO Itself. Sure, why not, Ukraine was so easy.

From Fox, Hegseth to double cuts to generals, admirals in major Pentagon shakeup "War secretary's State of the Force address doubles last year's 10% reduction target, with changes due by Jan 1, 2027." It's my belief that any organization can be improved by firing 20% of the bosses. The real question is which 20%. Fox News @FoxNews, "BREAKING: Secretary Pete Hegseth announces that Elon Musk will co-lead a new War Department effort studying the future of warfare during his State of the Force address. Hegseth unveils Project Meridian, naming Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich to co-lead the effort under the department's Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael. "An effort led by America's best minds to study the future of warfare."" Outer Space Today @outerspacetoday, "JUST IN: The U.S. Space Force is building new software designed to detect satellite maneuvers almost immediately, rather than waiting hours for perfectly refined orbital tracking data. Mission Delta 2 says the system will continuously fuse data from military and commercial radars, optical telescopes and radio-frequency sensors to flag unexpected orbital changes, close approaches and rendezvous activity across LEO, MEO and GEO. The shift is deliberate: commanders would get faster, probabilistic warnings even if the first measurements are less precise, then see the track automatically tighten as more sensor data arrives. ..."

unseen1 @unseen1_unseen, "Elbows up....winter is coming to Canada." Quote Tablesalt @Tablesalt13, "NEW - This Hamilton Steel mill layoff in Canada is a HUGE story -- The owner, Cleveland-Cliffs REFUSED emergency cash (undisclosed amount) from Mark Carney and violated an agreement they signed to not lay any workers off." Bradshaw @myabradshaw78, "What is seriously wrong with Carney? Why didn’t he stand and applaud a Canadian Army Veteran with the rest of the people around him? This is truly disrespectful." Quote Rise Of Alberta @RiseOfAlberta, "WOW: Mark Carney attended the Oilers home opener tonight and appeared to remain seated as the crowd stood to applaud a Canadian Army veteran. Tall about disrespectful." Don Surber says Carney’s trade war should drive Canadians to drink "In slapping a retaliatory tariff on us, Mark Carney overlooked the fact that Canada sells 10 times the whiskey to the USA as we do to Canada." Sundance hears a Canadian Media Report Mark Carney Likely to Accept Nobel Prize Award, Time Magazine Person of Year and Pope Leo XIV Veneration to End 2026, for opposing Trump. Hat Hair's Beege Welborn alliterates Burnham Burns Brexit Bridges, Fairford Follies Find the Harkles, and Labour Loathes Labradors. (Well done!)

From CJ, Adam Thierer explains What Hayek Can Teach Us About AI Safety. "The great economist’s lessons on knowledge and spontaneous order offer the best path forward." At Althouse "'They’re relating to it like a conscious being,' realized Rabbi Navon, a former computer engineer who wrote his dissertation on the ethics of machine consciousness." "From "Religious Scholars Met With Anthropic. What They Heard Stunned Them. In a series of private meetings, the company consulted religious scholars to help instill morality into its A.I. models — and make the case that Claude could be conscious" (NYT)." Eric S. Raymond @esrtweet, "Now let's talk about "the pause" Trust me bro we don't want to squelch AI forever bro it would just be a couple years bro while we get alignment right bro. Wait, where have I heard this song before? Oh yeah. "Two weeks to flatten the curve." The "pause" rhetoric is meant to create the institutional machinery for permanent suppression and shift the Overton window towards public acceptance of same. It's a dishonest move from people pretending they're willing to accept a future return to pre-"pause" liberty when that is exactly the opposite of what they intend. When s camel tries to get its nose into your tent, the right thing to do is kick it In the snoot. Hard." Elon Musk @elonmusk, "Best way to sandbox an AI is to put it on a Delta flight – it will have no chance of accessing the Internet!"

Ace, Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before: Second Quarter Real GDP Growth Revised Upwards by 0.7% "Why is it that estimated growth rates always have to be revised downwards for Democrats and upwards for Republicans? Because the left-wing bureaucrats consistently overestimate growth under Democrats and underestimate it under Republicans. Note that it's the first estimate that gets all the press. The revision only gets noticed by economists and traders." At Am Great, the Great Victor Davis Hanson is Remembering the False Gloom and Doom of the 1992 Elections—and the Upcoming Midterms. "Republicans risk repeating 1992 by failing to counter economic pessimism with the facts about strong growth, falling inflation, rising incomes, and a recovering economy." At PJM, VodkaPundit, warns Don't You Dare Fall for This 30-Year-Old Campaign Trick, "The disconnect between what's going on in the economy and its actual performance couldn't be wider. I'm reminded most of the 1992 presidential election, when Bill Clinton claimed we were in "the worst economy since the Great Depression," and the press was happy to repeat the lie ad nauseam." John Loftus at Da Caller, says Republicans Scramble To Save Their Own Skin. At Am Spec, Scott McKay thinks Sarah Sanders Steps In It Just Before the Midterms, "It’s not 1996 anymore." Sarah Huckabee Sanders @SarahHuckabee, "You pay taxes to cover welfare for people who just choose not to work. That’s why I launched a welfare-to-work requirement. If you’re young, healthy, and get government assistance, you should work, go to school, or volunteer."

Bad Hombre @Badhombre "It took Obama over 3 years to build and launch HealthcareDOTgov. It cost taxpayers $2 billion and was riddled with bugs, making it unusable for months after launch. It took Trump 13 months to build and launch AmericaDOTgov. It cost taxpayers a couple million dollars and works seamlessly on day one. I love having a competent president that knows how to build things."

John Sexton hears Trump Declares War on Mosquitoes and Ticks. "Trump’s order directs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and other federal officials to “develop and implement a campaign” within 60 days that would cut certain invasive mosquito species by 90 percent and the tick population by 50 percent in two years. The federal government will aim to use “commonsense, non-chemical, technology-enabled measures” instead of conventional pesticides, the order says."

Trish Reagan has a vid at Hat Hair, Socialism Is Real. It's Dangerous. And They're Organizing. Charlie Zulu @charlie1zulu, "It's s really interesting to review Karl Marx's life, who was undoubtedly a talented and intelligent man, but he was consumed by bitterness and jealous after being ousted from academia. It comes through it just in his theory but even in his style of writing. More people should actually read Marx." Rob Henderson @robkhenderson, "Gen Z voters hate capitalism—but they’ve barely even seen it...look at where their pain is concentrated: education, housing and health care...the most regulated, subsidized sectors of the American economy, and therefore the least like capitalism." Matt Vespa thinks Republicans Need to Put This in a National Ad Right Now. PJM's Stephen Kruiser thinks Dems' Haplessness Makes Them an Even Bigger Existential Threat to the Republic and Rick Moran reports In Direct Violation of Federal Tax Laws, Mosques Openly Campaign for Abdul El-Sayed.

Kyle Becker at RedState is gleeful about Schumer Being Checkmated on Plan to Block Trump Spending Cuts. Beege Welborn calls it Cringetastic: Beccera Interview Video Making People 'Flinch Like an Abused Dog'. 

Stephen Kruiser is Still Impatiently Waiting to See Jack Smith in an Orange Jumpsuit. From Ace, Jack Smith Obtained the Emails of Hundreds of Republicans and Conservative-Leaning Journalists; Claims He Had to Subpoena the Entire Conservative Movement to Decide If Everyone Should Be Indicted for January 6th."As Julie Kelly and others point out: There is no crime of "blocking the peaceful transfer of power," but this expansive and legally undefined mission justifies, Jack Smith says, subpoenaeing the checks made out to Republican office-holders and mass-spying on conservative media." Sundance thinks IG Michael Horowitz and ENTIRE FED Should Be Fired, Arrested and Immediately Prosecuted, and shockingly, it's not about Russiagate, but instead Trump's fight with the Federal Reserve over the renovations there.

Kevan Killough at JTN reports, US can deport leader of large mosque over national security concerns, immigration judge rules. "Sasour was born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and was imprisoned in Israel in 1988 after confessing to throwing a Molotov cocktail and stones at Israeli military personnel. He was also convicted in 1995 of attempting to possess weapons." Ace, Illegal Immigration Advocacy Group CATO Shrieks: Trump Has Reduced Muslim Refugee Immigration by 96%! This is Terrible! "Is it? Is it really?" Will Chamberlain @willchamberlain, "Truly incredible that CATO is unintentionally better at messaging the administrations’ wins than most right-wing influencers." From Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog, Problem: Labour Is Deeply Unpopular For Importing Unassimilated Muslims. Solution: Import More Unassimilated Muslims.

From the Chronic, The Traffic Stop That Exposed the ‘Noncriminal’ Myth "By Jayapal’s logic, Zeron was a noncriminal: no U.S. conviction, no pending U.S. charge, just a traffic stop. By any serious definition of public safety, he was a man wanted for mass murder in his home country who had been living in America for years." At Twitchy, Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Bills Restricting ICE’s Use of Flash Bangs, Shock Gloves, Gets Trolled.

And of course, more at the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 09.29.26 and In The Mailbox: 09.30.26. I have a few more in the Freedom of Speech, and Culture bins, but I gotta pack my bags and go.