In a scenario right out of a horror movie, pilots and airline employees battled an apparently murderous first officer on a FlyDubai jet to Tel Aviv in a 17-minute ordeal in the sky over Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. It appears to have been an attempt to hijack or crash the airplane by the first officer, at the time of this writing, identified only by his nationality as an Omani.
The pilot in command of Flight 1073, Capt. Smit Machchhar was apparently stabbed by the Omani as the first officer tried to take control of the flight.
The melee began an hour and 20-minutes after takeoff as the Boeing 737 Max was traveling over northwest Saudi Arabia with approximately 150 people aboard. The plane plummeted from its cruise altitude of 34-thousand feet to 16-thousand feet passing a vertical speed of 30-thousand feet per minute. The plunging jet porpoised repeatedly as passengers screamed and prayed.
During that time, the airplane transmitted 7700 a general emergency notification followed by 7500, an interference in flight alert, indicating the pilot believed a hijacking was underway.
At some point, Capt. Machchhar was able to fling open the cockpit door that would have prevented anyone from entering, giving passengers a view of the melee and access, then collapsing.
https://x.com/i/status/2105235577540911344
As a result, several people were able to enter the cockpit and intervene. Two reportedly took command of the airplane. The airline later identified them as on-duty airline employees but did not provide their job titles.
Flight 1073 landed at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia showing significant damage to the rudder of the 3 and a half year old Max 8. Serious skills would have been required to handle the airplane given just the visible damage.
Video from passengers after landing in Saudi, show both FlyDubai pilots receiving medical attention on the floor of the galley. They were transported to a local hospital for treatment and the first officer has been arrested. Another FlyDubai jet was sent to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport, a joint military and commercial airport and the travelers were flown on to Tel Aviv.
Air travel in the region has been disrupted since February due to the Trump administration’s unleashing Operation Epic Fury on Iran at the end of February. The conflict remains ongoing. Nevertheless, the United Arab Emirates with its two large transit points for global travel, one in Dubai and the other in Abu Dhabi, lifted travel restrictions in April.
This nightmare-inducing near catastrophe is sure to have people rethinking using the UAE’s big hubs for their upcoming travel. I would not be surprised if it had a wider impact on air travel throughout the middle east.
Questions:
— This was a flight to Israel. Does Israel not insist on far stricter pre-flight security checks for flights headed its way than are usually carried out? So how did anyone at all smuggle a weapon on board?
— Israel requires (am I wrong?) foreign airlines to use for TLV flights only nationals of countries having diplomatic relations with it. The FO was apparently Omani. Oman does Not have diplomatic relations with Israel. How did this happen?
Israeli election coming up. I bet there’s a lot more to this than meets the eye.
Rod, Israel has a reputation for heavy duty security, but as the unfolding story shows, complacency abounds. Israeli agencies had requirements that were not met, and do not seem to have been audited. There is a lot of internal finger pointing going on. Hopefully that will come to an end and a proper lessons learned examination will take place.
It’s going to be very interesting to hear the results of the background check on this FO and if there were any indications he was prone to this…… that said, it can be a very slippery slope when pilots start getting fired for political comments or perspectives…..
In answer to Rod’s question, I’m guessing FlyDubai, like most if not all the Middle East Airlines, relies heavily on Expat flight crews. They all have pilots from all over the globe.
I wonder how premeditated this attack was? WHy use a less lethal weapon like a penknife when there is a fireaxe in the cockpit? Also I imagine this aircraft came close to breaking up due to overspeed caused flutter. The rudder was torn off and worse could have happened if the aircraft wasn’t pulled out its dive in time.
I wonder if the FO’s attack on the Captain was premeditated? Why use a relatively ineffectual weapon when there was a fire axe in the cockpit? The fact that the captain survived the attack and could open the cockpit door meant the cockpit could be easily retaken by the pax and crew. The CVR tape will be interesting. Also there’s little doubt that the plane was overspeeding, as evidenced by the loss of the rudder. How much longer could it have survived without breaking up due to flutter?
This incident should embolden us all to be aware and on the alert to step in when the unimaginable occurs. On my recent flight, domestic, I was exactly that thinking about the flight having just been publicized.
Donna, you are correct. Whether it is security or safety, passengers have a role to play in their own well being and the well being of their fellow travelers. Obliviousness is the enemy of awareness and I see it all around me when I travel by air. During the phases of flight when most accidents occur, takeoff and landing and taxiing, we should all have our eyes and window shades open, sleep masks and earphones off and shoes on. Should the unlikely happen, we can contribute to a happy outcome for all.