Passengers from the September attack select leading Israeli firm to represent them against airline, Transport Ministry and State of Israel • Claims expected to reach hundreds of millions of dollars
Passengers aboard the Flydubai terror flight have selected the law firm Nashitz Brandes Amir to represent them in legal proceedings against the airline, Israel's Transport Ministry, the State of Israel and other parties.
According to a report in Calcalist, the firm was chosen after a selection process that also considered proposals from the law firms Herzog and Goldfarb. The planned claims are expected to reach a total of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The decision on legal representation was made by a dedicated steering committee established by the passengers to coordinate their efforts against the authorities and the airline, Calcalist reports. The committee is headed by Tzvi Manes, CEO of the underwriting company Barak Leumi, who was one of those who subdued the co-pilot during the attack.
Serving alongside Manes on the committee are attorney Tal Eisenberg, who lives in Singapore, and passengers Daniel Schlichter, Itai Perlman and Shir Maor.
The attack took place on September 29 during a routine flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The drama began when passenger Tali Manes heard unusual screams coming from the cockpit and called on Israeli passengers to check what was happening.
When they reached the cockpit, passengers were confronted with a horrifying scene: the co-pilot had stabbed the captain and sent the aircraft into a steep dive in an attempt to crash it.
A mass-casualty disaster was averted only through the passengers' extraordinary resourcefulness: Passenger Yaniv Hayun acted quickly and stabilised the aircraft's dive. Tzvi Manes and other passengers overpowered the attacking co-pilot and restrained him. The crew and passengers provided first aid to the wounded captain, and another pilot from the airline who happened to be among the passengers, served as captain and landed the aircraft safely at an airport in Saudi Arabia.
Findings from the investigation released in the United Arab Emirates show that the co-pilot, an Omani national, had planned to seize control of the aircraft and crash it into the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport. The UAE's Attorney General, Dr Hamed Saif Al Shamsi, revealed that the terrorist had chosen a career in aviation inspired by the September 11 terror attacks in the United States.
President Isaac Herzog awarded the six passengers who displayed extraordinary resourcefulness and courage the "President's Award for Civilian Courage", the highest civilian honour in the State of Israel.
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