The Sydney-based heirs to the Katies fashion chain, Steven and Carol Moss, were the on the flydubai flight that was almost hijacked on Wednesday, several media outlets reported.
The Israel embassy in Canberra confirmed two Australian passengers were on board flight 1703, although did not disclose their names.
Steven Moss’s father, Sam Moss, sold Katies to Coles Myer 1984, leaving a family inheritance that allowed the low-profile couple to live in the Sydney suburb of Point Piper in a house they sold three years ago for $130 million, according to reports at the time.
Mr Moss declined to comment when asked about the flight from Dubai to Israel, The Australian reported.
The attempted hijacking began after the co-pilot smuggled a small knife on board and used it to temporarily disable or stun his captain, Smit Machchhar, before inflicting serious injuries on his fellow pilot with an axe stored in the cockpit for emergencies, an aviation security consultant said.
Shannon Wandmaker, the Brisbane-based director of CW Aviation Security Consulting, said his aviation sources had shared details of the desperate fight for control of the Boeing 737 over Saudi Arabia on Wednesday between the Indian pilot and his deputy, who is reportedly a citizen of Oman, an affluent but deeply conservative Islamic state.
As the two men fought over the aircraft, it plunged so fast that the rudder was badly damaged or ripped off, adding to the challenge of stand-by flydubai pilots who happened to be travelling in the main cabin. The security consultant emphasised that his information was based on incomplete reports and could change as the full account of what happened was disclosed by aviation officials.
“They were probably very lucky for a couple of reasons,” he said. “Only the rudder was damaged and the aircraft was still flyable. And the captain was available to take control of the aircraft. My understanding is the (original) captain was in no state to fly the aircraft. They were very, very lucky they had a qualified captain from flydubai there.
“If either of those things weren’t in place then I think the situation could be very different. If you’re in a position where you have a captain incapable of flying and the first officer restrained, there is only one outcome from that if nobody else is able to fly the aircraft.”
Passenger aircraft have what is called a “crash axe” in their cockpits to use to break out of the plane if it crashes. The axes used to be stored in the main cabins but were shifted to the pilots’ area after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US 25 years ago, Mr Wandmaker said.
Taking control
The 174 people on board were from Israel and other countries, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held a video-recorded meeting with a passenger, plumber Yaniv Hayun, who said he was the first person to enter the cockpit with one of two extra flybubai pilots on board.
“He and I pushed the door,” Mr Hayun said. “The pilot who was stabbed was very close to the door so it was hard for us to open.”
Mr Netanyahu asked if the pilot had unlocked the door. “He managed to open it,” Mr Hayun said. “Before he collapsed, he succeeded.
“When I entered I saw the terrorist on the devices between the two seats. I grabbed the terrorist and choked him. Pulled him out.”
Mr Netanyahu said: “What did he do with those devices?”
“He tried to destroy the devices in order to neutralise the plane,” Mr Hayun said. “We took him outside. It was seconds. The plane was still in the air like this. I called to the Israeli guys who were on the plane. I called them: ‘come’. Two more guys came to me. I told them. We threw him to the side. I jumped back to this. I pulled the wheels.”
Based on the man’s hand gestures, the wheels were the Boeing’s control yoke, which is used to fly the plane.
“Are you pulling the wheels?” Mr Netanyahu said. “You knew? Backwards?”
“I watch the show Mayday,” Mr Hayun said, prompting both men to laugh. “The plane started to balance a little more and then the flight attendant (the pilot) told me he’s taking control from here.”
Mayday, known in Australia as Air Crash Investigation, is a Canadian documentary TV series that uses reenactments to describe aviation hijackings, bombings, crashes and near crashes.
Publicly available flight data shows about two hours after taking off the plane fell from 34,000 to about 20,000 feet in a short time, rapidly gained altitude, then dived again to around 15,000 feet. During the dive the aircraft recorded a speed of 596 knots, or 1100kmh, far above the maximum limit set by Boeing for that altitude.
A one-minute video from the main cabin shows passengers crying, screaming and holding on to seats as the plane plunges out of the sky. A person can be heard saying: “Sit down. Sit down. Sit down.”
Unlawful interference
A video taken from the plane in the aftermath of the fight shows a badly bloodied and dazed Captain Machchhar lying on the floor with an oxygen mask over his mouth. A man in what appears to be a flydubai pilot’s uniform is at his feet, tied up and not moving.
Seven minutes after the first dive the plane’s transponder — a type of radio transmitter — was set to 7700, the code for an emergency. Another seven minutes later it was set to 7500, the code for “unlawful interference”, which includes a hijacking. It was then switched back to 7700.
Passenger Zvika Meness told Israeli public broadcaster Kan News that he and other passengers tied the attacker up “with his own zip ties and with the multimedia headphones”.
US President Donald Trump, after being briefed by Mr Netanyahu, said the co-pilot was “perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job”.
Mr Trump expressed amazement Mr Hayun was able to pull the plane out of its steep dive based on knowledge from a TV program, which he called “this unbelievably crazy show”. “I’ve watched it numerous times actually,” Mr Trump said. “I think it’s the most amazing story.”
The plane landed safely at a military base in northern Saudi Arabia, where the passengers received medical assistance from the authorities. They were flown on a replacement aircraft to Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport, where they were greeted by a crowd celebrating their return, including Mr Netanyahu.
A flydubai spokesperson said the motive behind the attack was unclear. “We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts,” they said.
Oman refuses to recognise Israel, a position supported by about 90 per cent of its citizens, according to polls, although in 2023 gave Israeli aircraft permission to fly over its airspace.
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