Flydubai flight 1073: failed hijacking attempt led to 17,000-foot plunge
New details indicate a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was the subject of a failed hijacking attempt, during which the aircraft lost 17,000 feet of altitude in under a minute before landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
A week after Flydubai flight 1073 drew public attention, details are still emerging. Based on what is known so far, the episode most likely amounted to a failed hijacking attempt.
Accounts from people present say the captain fought off an aggressor identified as the flight's co-pilot, then opened the flight deck door. Passengers stepped in and restrained the individual. Pilots travelling as passengers, sometimes described as passive crew and seated in the cabin while positioning for duty, took over and flew the aircraft to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
The service had departed Dubai for Tel Aviv on the morning of September 30.
Altitude data for the flight shows a loss of 17,000 feet in less than one minute. That rate is well beyond the 6,000 feet per minute the Boeing 737 MAX primary flight display can show, and far above the 1,500 feet per minute controllers typically request for separation. Images that circulated afterwards showed large portions of the rudder missing from the tail section, while the vertical and horizontal stabilizers appeared intact.
Dubai → Tel-aviv
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Sources
- flightradar24.comFlydubai 1073: What the incident could mean for aviation security