Aviation experts are in disbelief that a flydubai Boeing 737 MAX 8 survived a plunge of thousands of feet in less than a minute and landed safely in Saudi Arabia after a violent mid-air cockpit confrontation.
“The Indian co-pilot sitting with him handled the situation very well… This is not the first such incident. The emergency prompted Israel to scramble fighter aircraft as authorities feared that the flight had been hijacked. The pilot returned towards Saudi Arabia and landed in Tabuk’s Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport. The airline has been cooperating with authorities investigating the incident.
Flight FZ1073 was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 passengers on Wednesday when a fight between the two pilots escalated into a life-threatening emergency. The aircraft plunged about 16,000 feet, dropping from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in roughly a minute. The sharpest drop of 14,125 feet occurred in just 29 seconds, as per flightradar24 data.
There have been several cases in the past, including one involving an Egyptian airline,” he said. “A full investigation will reveal what happened and why he attempted this,” Kaul told ANI. A person who heard the flight’s communications with air traffic control said that the pilot made a panicked “squawk” (mayday) call. The pilot also reportedly requested an emergency landing and said ambulances would be needed.
Aviation expert Sanat Kaul said the foiled flydubai attack appeared to be a possible “suicide attempt by a mentally disturbed pilot” and demanded a proper investigation.
