In-flight stabbing `I felt a numbness' -Pilot By Oscar P. Clarke Stabroek News January 31, 2001 The twenty-four-year-old pilot who was stabbed in mid-flight but managed to safely land his plane said he felt a numbness at the back of his head and turned in time to see his assailant - knife raised in the air - about to stab him again. Yacoob Mazharally, known as Yacoob Ally and 'Joey', who underwent surgery late Monday night was yesterday surrounded by friends and relatives at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital. He was stabbed twice behind his head, on his left side shoulder and on his wrist. Also admitted to the same hospital was the heroine of the drama Vydia Gooray, who along with her nine-year-old daughter, Grace Gooray was also on the aircraft. She sustained a gaping wound to one of her hands and several bites about her body, inflicted by Mazaharally's attacker. The female, who allegedly committed the offence, is also hospitalised in the Georgetown Public Hospital. Stabroek News understands that she was not kept in custody on Monday night but was taken to the hospital where she is under observation. According to the police, charges are likely to be instituted shortly. The drama began after the Air Services Ltd pilot took off from Ogle on his way to Supenaam, Essequibo. Stabroek News visited the pilot last night at St Joseph Mercy Hospital, where he was resting comfortably, his entire head bandaged. He told Stabroek News he knew the woman was on the flight as he had seen when she boarded, but never thought anything like that would have happened as he had not spoken to her in years. He told this newspaper that the woman said nothing to him before she committed the act. He said he just felt a throbbing numbness at the back of his head and turned to see her thrusting the knife towards him. Mazharally said that she managed to stab him a few times before she was wrestled to the floor by Gooray. The Cessna 182 four-seater aircraft had only been in the air for a few minutes when his attacker made her move. Employees of Air Services Ltd at Ogle had told this newspaper that they noticed that something was amiss as the plane was dipping dangerously as it returned to base but became even more alarmed when they saw how dangerously the pilot was preparing to land. They had said the plane landed abruptly and skidded on smoking tyres for a few minutes before it was halted. The entire episode was over in about 15 minutes. After landing the plane safely Mahazarally jumped out and ran towards his vehicle with blood gushing from his shoulder and he was rushed to the hospital. Stabroek News had learnt that at the time of the incident the plane was over Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara. Mahazarally and his attacker had had a brief relationship which ended some two years ago. Vydia Gooray, who saved the life of the pilot and everyone else in the small aircraft, had wrestled with the assailant in an attempt to take the knife from her. During this encounter, electrical wiring in the plane was damaged and the plane almost caught fire. The pilot lost all radio contact. It was learnt that Gooray did in fact manage to take the knife away from the woman and had handed it to her daughter, who was sitting next to the pilot in the cockpit. The knife was later handed over to the police. Gooray told friends that the woman had had the knife hidden in a newspaper. She said that the young woman had told her to look in her bag for her tablets and it was within that split second, as she turned away, that the woman pelted the first stab at the pilot. Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) has launched an investigation into the incident. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today