“Mayday” executive producer reacts to passenger who said show helped him stabilize FlyDubai plane

October 1, 2026 / 6:02 PM EDT / CBS News

Alex Bystram, the executive producer of "Mayday," was discussing a future episode with co-workers when he learned that one of his show's viewers was a passenger on the terrifying FlyDubai Flight 1073, and used what he saw in the series to help stabilize the plane.

"If, incidentally, someone picked up a tip about something they saw in the cockpit and it worked and it had the right effect, then that's a fantastic byproduct," Bystram told CBS News on Thursday.

The passenger, Yaniv Hayun, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met him at the airport, that he knew what to do because of the show.

Israeli officials said the FlyDubai plane was about two hours into its flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the co-pilot stabbed the captain.

Hayun said that amid the commotion at the front of the plane, he "ran toward the cockpit," then the aircraft "went into a very sharp nose-down dive." CBS News' partner network BBC News said flight tracking data showed the aircraft plummeted more than 17,000 feet in two minutes.

Israeli officials and passengers said the captain, an Indian national, was able to…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/