U.S. President Donald Trump posted a special video on his TikTok account overnight between Friday and Saturday, thanking Yaniv Hayun, the hero of the flydubai flight. Hayun was one of the Israelis who subdued the Omani pilot-terrorist and the first to stabilize the aircraft as it plunged through the air.
“Thank you, Yaniv!” Trump wrote in the video’s caption.
President Trump praises Yaniv Hayun: 'I’m a fan of his'
(Video: Donald Trump’s official TikTok account)
'He saved that flight.' Trump and Hayun
(Photo: Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP, Yariv Katz)
“I just want to thank and congratulate Yaniv Hayun, who's an Israeli plumber, and he’s a Trump fan. I’m a fan of his, a big fan. He saved that flight yesterday,” Trump said in the video.
“He did an amazing job. He got in there and he learned how to fly by watching ‘Air Disasters’ on television, and he’s my kind of guy. He can be my plumber. He can be whatever he wants to be. What a job he did. He’s a hero. And I want to just congratulate him and his family. You like me and I like you. Thank you, Yaniv.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also released footage Friday of his meeting with Hayun, saying: “On behalf of President Trump and the American people, thank you Yaniv!”
He added: “I had the privilege of thanking the hero Yaniv Hayoun for his courageous actions saving a plane full of souls onboard FlyDubai FZ1073.”
Hayun, 38, a plumber from Ness Ziona who was aboard the flight, helped overpower the co-pilot together with other Israeli passengers: Zvika Manes, Assaf Rajuan and dentist Dr. Shota Musaev, who treated the captain after he was stabbed.