{"id":917410,"date":"2026-10-02T04:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/917410\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T04:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T04:36:09","slug":"how-the-flydubai-jet-bound-for-israel-managed-to-pull-out-of-its-sudden-plunge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/917410\/","title":{"rendered":"How the FlyDubai jet bound for Israel managed to pull out of its sudden plunge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A replacement aircraft carrying passengers from the FlyDubai flight that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia is parked at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday.Ariel Schalit\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

As a FlyDubai jet plunged to Earth on Wednesday<\/a>, Yaniv Hayoun and another passenger shouldered their way into the cockpit of the Boeing 737 Max to find to find one pilot bleeding on the floor and the second leaned over the controls, apparently trying to destroy the console. <\/p>\n

\u201cI grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold and dragged him out first,\u201d Yaniv Hayoun, a plumber, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting broadcast by CNN on Thursday. <\/p>\n

Mr. Hayoun then re-entered the cockpit and yanked back on the yokes, pulling the plane out of its descent of around 5,000 metres in less than two minutes. The flight was carrying about 170 passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The yokes control the flaps on the tail, which control the angle of a plane\u2019s nose. <\/p>\n

Mr. Hayoun said he knew which way to move the handles because he had watched Air Crash Investigation, a TV show that re-enacts aviation disasters.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A teacher from Gurukul School of Art paints a portrait honouring Capt. Machchhar in Mumbai, India, on Thursday.Rafiq Maqbool\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Another FlyDubai pilot on board took over the pilot\u2019s seat and the plane continued on its way, making an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the injured pilot was rushed to hospital. That pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar of India, is credited with a key action while injured<\/a> \u2013 unlocking the cockpit door and allowing the plane\u2019s heroes to enter. <\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

How the incident on board <\/p>\n

the FlyDubai flight unfolded<\/p>\n

Passengers on a flight to Israel that plunged <\/p>\n

more than 5,000 metres after the pilot was <\/p>\n

stabbed say surviving the incident was <\/p>\n

a miracle<\/p>\n

05:35: Switches to <\/p>\n

hijacking code<\/p>\n

05:28: Transmits general <\/p>\n

emergency after descending <\/p>\n

about 5,000 metres in just <\/p>\n

two minutes<\/p>\n

03:05: Flight FZ1073 <\/p>\n

departs Dubai airport <\/p>\n

06:58: Makes emergency<\/p>\n

landing at Tabuk airport.<\/p>\n

Sept. 30, 2026, in metres<\/p>\n

graphic news, Sources: Reuters; BBC; Flightradar2; AP<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

How the incident on board <\/p>\n

the FlyDubai flight unfolded<\/p>\n

Passengers on a flight to Israel that plunged <\/p>\n

more than 5,000 metres after the pilot was <\/p>\n

stabbed say surviving the incident was <\/p>\n

a miracle<\/p>\n

05:35: Switches to <\/p>\n

hijacking code<\/p>\n

05:28: Transmits general <\/p>\n

emergency after descending <\/p>\n

about 5,000 metres in just <\/p>\n

two minutes<\/p>\n

03:05: Flight FZ1073 <\/p>\n

departs Dubai airport <\/p>\n

06:58: Makes emergency<\/p>\n

landing at Tabuk airport.<\/p>\n

Sept. 30, 2026, in metres<\/p>\n

graphic news, Sources: Reuters; BBC; Flightradar2; AP<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

How the incident on board the FlyDubai flight unfolded<\/p>\n

Passengers on a flight to Israel that plunged more than<\/p>\n

5,000 metres after the pilot was stabbed say surviving <\/p>\n

the incident was a miracle<\/p>\n

05:35: Switches to <\/p>\n

hijacking code<\/p>\n

05:28: Transmits general <\/p>\n

emergency after descending <\/p>\n

about 5,000 metres in just <\/p>\n

two minutes<\/p>\n

03:05: Flight FZ1073 <\/p>\n

departs Dubai airport <\/p>\n

06:58: Makes emergency<\/p>\n

landing at Tabuk airport.<\/p>\n

Sept. 30, 2026, in metres<\/p>\n

graphic news, Sources: Reuters; BBC; Flightradar2; AP<\/p>\n

A photo on social media showed the plane\u2019s rudder was missing upon landing. <\/p>\n

FlyDubai has not named the pilot who is the alleged attacker, but said all passengers and crew are safe. The suspect has been transferred to the custody of the United Arab Emirates. Israel has said the suspect is an Omani national. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,\u201d FlyDubai said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Since 9\/11, the world\u2019s aircraft have featured cockpit doors that can only be opened with a code known to the crew. And at the rate the plane was plunging, experts say there would have been almost no time to unlock the door. <\/p>\n

Nigel Waterhouse, founder of Vancouver-based Can-Am Aerospace and an aviation engineer, said available data show the plane exceeded its structural limits on the plunge. These are limits prescribed by Boeing and Transport Canada, based on the airframe\u2019s ability to withstand the massive forces of air travel. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Captain Smit MachchharUncredited\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Based on data provided by aviation tracking website FlightRadar24, the plane\u2019s air speed after recovering from the dive of 550 nautical miles an hour exceeded its maximum cruising speed of 453 knots. On the plunge, the plane exceeded its dive limit of 566 knots, Mr. Waterhouse said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis plane was flown beyond its structural-limit speed, which is why they lost the rudder and they\u2019re lucky they didn\u2019t lose more,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

While a plane can land without a rudder, it cannot do so without the tail flaps that sit parallel to the ground, known as elevators, he said. <\/p>\n

What we know about stabbing on FlyDubai flight bound for Israel<\/a><\/p>\n

Although Boeing aircraft are largely controlled by analog cables, pulleys and hydraulics, the Max uses software that would have cushioned the dive-correction action on the yokes. This could have prevented the massive G-force from shearing off the wings, Mr. Waterhouse said, describing the plunge as \u201chorrendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Cox, chief executive officer of Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Fla., and a former commercial airline pilot, said the fact that the plane was able to land is testament to its manufacturer. <\/p>\n

\u201cBoeing designs and builds really tough aircraft,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Mr. Cox said the incident raises questions about FlyDubai\u2019s screening and security policies. The airline is owned by Dubai, as is Emirates, a carrier known for its strict pilot-vetting standards, Mr. Cox said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did this guy manage to get a knife on the airplane?\u201d Mr. Cox said. <\/p>\n

FlyDubai did not respond to e-mailed questions on Thursday. <\/p>\n

In Canada, pilots and flight attendants and their luggage are checked for weapons and other prohibited items, said Anna Maddison, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, which is responsible for airport screening. <\/p>\n

John Gradek, who teaches aviation leadership at McGill University, said the investigation will be aided by the cockpit voice recorder and black box. But the incident raises questions about the mental health and intentions of pilots, he said. <\/p>\n

Iran will be struck \u2018very hard\u2019 if linked to FlyDubai co-pilot who tried to crash Israel-bound plane, Trump says<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIs this a lone wolf or somebody who has been caught up in the recruitment process of terrorists?\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 9\/11, much effort has been spent securing the cockpit and subjecting passengers to heightened screening. But little has changed in the way cabin crew\u2019s mental fitness is assessed, Mr. Gradek said.<\/p>\n

Pilots \u201cgo through a physical and they go through a light mental health Q and A with a psychologist, and as far as I can tell there isn\u2019t any structured protocol to understand the political leanings of an individual,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A replacement aircraft carrying passengers from the FlyDubai flight that made an emergency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1397,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-917410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-appwebview","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}