A flydubai 737 bound for Tel Aviv nearly crashed after the first officer attacked the captain, until passengers stormed the cockpit to save the flight.
Based on the time when the incident occurred, is there a good chance the voice recording from the cockpit would still be available and not over-written?
@ John K -- It hasn't been officially confirmed one way or another (as far as I can tell), but typically a cockpit voice recorder overwrites itself after two hours. I suspect that unfortunately it would've been overwritten by the time authorities got their hands on it.
@Ben The CVR System on flydubai's 737 MAX Fleet
• Newer Factory Models: Boeing's 737 MAX production lines equip newly built models with 25-hour recording capabilities to satisfy international mandates. Because flydubai operates a highly modernized, expanding fleet of over 70 active 737 MAX jets—many delivered within the last few years—the newest units in their fleet carry the 25-hour Honeywell systems. FZ1073 was delivered Dec 21, 2022, which was right about when the new mandate went into affect.
It’s still shocking. Thank goodness the heroic captain, passengers, and off duty crew saved the day here. Since he is in custody, the first officer should be fully prosecuted, his specific motive determined, and lessons learned to prevent these types of incidents from happening again. We haven’t forgotten other instances of aircraft being used as weapons; it would also be intellectually dishonest and prejudicial to blame entire nationalities, ethnicities, or religions, for the bad acts of a few individuals. I wish that fear-mongering would stop. It helps no one.
To me there seems to be a whole lot more to this story than we're seeing. How were the passengers able to stand up if the plane was in a -17,000 FPM dive? How was the cabin still intact with no loose objects flying around? Some reports have described an attack with an axe, others with a knife. How was the Omani pilot allowed to operate the flight, given the lack of diplomatic ties with Israel? There are a lot of things that don't line up here.
@ Bruce -- There are definitely still a lot of questions. Obviously flight data through Flightradar24 doesn't lie, so the descent did happen at a very fast rate. What's odd is that of all the videos from onboard, none actually seem to show the very, very steep descent. At least not any that I've seen...
@ben, if that descent took less than a minute, and by all accounts it did, then at that rate the passengers had all to do just to hold on and stay secure. I can't imagine at that very moment somebody saying "hold my beer, I need to record this".
@ Robert R -- "I can't imagine at that very moment somebody saying 'hold my beer, I need to record this'."
In the year 2026? I absolutely can!
It’s possible that in those initial moments people were too shocked, confused, and terrified to pull out their phones.
Bruce - is suspect the embedded video is from when the plane was righted but the whole incident was still occuring.
Right
It is a clear fact based on the flight tracking info it did go through that steep decline.
The video floating around just doenst seem like one taken as the plane was in that type of nosedive, including as well the seemingly clean and unaffected cabin itself.
Here’s what I’ve pieced together from listening to some passenger accounts:
First officer stabs captain who then opens the door.
Passengers see and hear and rush tbe cockpit. This is when ppl pull out their phones.
During the struggle, the yoke gets pushed forward, starting the dive. Phones become projectiles or ppl, thinking they are about to die, stop worrying about recording.
That actually sounds reasonable and something I hadn't considered, that the nose dive was due to errors by the people who tried to save the situation.
Still odd how well held up the cabin looks in the videos of people clapping when the plane landed or whatever.
@lucky
I recently flew from Phuket to TLV with a stop in Abu Dhabi on Etihad.
While on the flight from Phuket to AUH I was talking with the stewardess and she told me she is not allowed to work the TLV flights because she is a Tunisian citizen and her country does not have relations with Israel.
So it seems like it is a rule and Fly Dubai was ignoring it.
@ TLV Flyer -- If that's the case, that would obviously be really bad. I just have a hard time imagining an airline would intentionally violate rules in that way. For that matter, Israel has access to the manifests for flights, so you'd think they would have a system in place to prevent this as well.
I'm no expert but the 1st video seems way too calm for a flight plunging 15,000 feet in 60 seconds.
So much is going to be said and interpreted over the next few days/weeks. The only people who really know what happened are the 2 in the cockpit and the black box audio that will surely be released soon.
I smell a Mossad op here. Too many suspicious things going on here for everyone to "miraculously" survive.
This nation is well known for running these campaigns.
@ Julie -- Which nation? We're talking about a UAE-based airline with Indian and Omani pilots...
And what nationality were many of the passengers on this flight? We all know that every legal adult of this nation is conscripted into government and military agencies.
@ Julie -- This is just absurd. You understand there's a reinforced cockpit door, right? Please, in detail, explain how you think this plot went down. Goodness, I understand people have varying takes on Israel, but you're just creating an absolutely wild scenario in your head, respectfully.
Ha. If only. 35% of (Jewish) Israelis avoid conscription. But regardless, prior military experience is irrelevant unless you’re wearing a tinfoil hat. (and remember, like 80% of military jobs are sitting at desks, etc)
@Julie, that's demonstrably false. For a long time, many Israeli adults were not conscripted, which is an ongoing issue there.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/world/middleeast/israel-military-haredim-draft.html
Ben:
I just want to clarify that I signed my posts as Julie on your China Eastern and Air India crash reports, but I am not the Julie commenting here. I will use jzl if I ever comment on your reports again.
@ McCaron -- Let me make sure I understand this. You're suggesting the Israelis "hijacked" an Emirati plane with an Indian and Omani pilot to fake a terror plot? And how exactly did they do that?
Not that I believe for a moment this farcical fantasy but to pretend that the Mossad could not possibly plant a recruited or fake Omani pilot on a Flydubai jet is just about as magical thinking. They have placed people inside the inner circle of some of the most paranoid leadership groups on the planet in Iran and Lebanon as well as other places. Putting a pilot in place in a civilian airline would be child's play for them
Maaaaybe.
It’s one thing to flip someone by handing them suitcases of cash. Getting them to agree to kill themselves is a bit harder. Certainly not impossible, but harder.
I don’t follow.
The UAE has become an important strategic and economic ally for Israel. Not much to be gained by starting a war.
Also, even if there was any logic to an attack, it’s baseless speculation unless you’ve got receipts.
@Julie & @McCaron
did we fast forward to 4/20? You must be higher than a kite for this kind of stupid comment
@Julie & @McCaron You people are absolutely insane. It’s like you people have never seen 9/11, the Bali Shootings, Mumbai Attacks… endless list just in recent times. Not even counting how they have historically terrorized everyone around them all over the world. I can’t even fathom what goes on in you people’s head to protect the enemy and attack the innocent. A day of reckoning will come to those you love and you will suffer unimaginably one day.
@Julie -- Conspiracy theories are common when we 'want answers' after a incident, I'd urge a bit more patience here. That first officer is alive and in-custody. There should be a thorough investigation, motives (and accomplices, if any) identified, so that we all can learn and better prevent incidents like this from happening in the future. I don't see even Bibi pushing to 'go to war' with UAE, Omani, etc., over this.
@Ezzrraa -- If you actually mean well, you really shouldn't be saying things like "A day of reckoning will come to those you love and you will suffer unimaginably one day."
There are only handful of organizations that conspiracies are actually very believable.
Mossad false flag is definitely one of them.
Shame on some of the lefty media in Europe who keep talking about "an argument between the pilots".
Several early reports said the incident was due to a fight between the two pilots.
CNN's post to Facebook was "a 'violent' altercation between two pilots...." https://www.facebook.com/cnn/posts/a-violent-altercation-between-two-pilots-caused-a-flydubai-aircraft-traveling-fr/1484707463521900/
It’s not “lefty media” it’s a developing news story with various accounts. And it’s likely there was an argument - because one of them wanted to bring the plane down it seems and one didn’t. No media is going to pretend this wasn’t a terror act if that’s what it was. But they’re also still investigating.
Not questioning the accuracy, but why do we even bother with cockpit recording if it auto overwrites after 2 hours and doesn’t save/broadcast that recording in the event of extreme plane behavior? For how expensive planes are, a couple more gigs of storage seems like common sense and something insurance / FAA should require. For something so critical, why wouldn’t it be preserved for 24 hours at least?
It seems unrealistic that we’d have access to that within 2 hours for the vast majority of the times when you’d want it. Why is that?
@ Mattt -- It's nuts, I completely agree with you. The short answer is that a lot of pilot unions oppose making the cockpit voice recorder last longer, even though it absolutely should.
So passengers almost died when the aircraft plunged 17,000 ft and them the first thing someone did is to record the scene, seriously ?
@ McCaron -- There were nearly 200 people on the plane, and most people stayed in their seats with their seatbelts fastened. What difference does it make whether they record or not?
1900_ Shall I provide you with statistics and data; You know, facts. Are you attempting to compare jihadists and radical islamic terrorism to evil acts committed by other groups? Are you suggesting that these posters have never heard of these examples and you have now taught them something new? Rediculous! Educate yourself ...
Jules, I think you meant to comment on a different thread; also, you wrote the wrong username. (A little on-the-nose for you to be telling others to 'educate' themselves...)
1990, Fair enough, you caught typos. I replied to your original comment; no idea why it ended up attached to the next one. Tech isn’t on my side. 🙂
But congratulations on the proofreading. While you’re busy correcting the typos, you’re still sidestepping the actual point. Now that the clerical investigation is complete, do you have a response to the substance, or is copy-editing the extent of your rebuttal?
People react in all sorts of unexpected ways when put in life-and-death situations. Do you know what you’d do if you’d been on board ? (Hint: no, you don’t.)
yeah... I was wondering the same. For a plunging plane, I don't understand how they're calmly walking in the cabin
So a jihadist co pilot (maybe inspired by the 9/11 jihadists) brutally stabbed an Indian pilot and tried crashing the plane, the indian pilot, severely stabbed, was able to open the cockpit door, then Israeli passengers jumped to the rescue and were able to stop the jihadist, meanwhile 2 rotating pilots who were on the flight landed the plane, while an Israeli dentist on board was able to save the indian pilot’s life, and all the jihadists supporters say that the incident was somehow orchestrated.
Got it.
Ho well, we all know who are responsible for 100% of the terrorist attacks all over the western world in the last 25 years since the 9/11 jihadists attack on America.
Right?! It’s insane how these deranged people think. They’ve been terrorizing everyone across the globe for two millennia but in 2026 they’re innocent? Give me a break. These people are just so exhausting because they can’t even recognize reality.
Eric, Ezzrraa, you're engaging in broad generalization, prejudice, and stereotyping. Please, try to stay focused on the details of this incident, instead of blaming an entire group of people for the actions of what is often a few criminal individuals.
Obviously, your claims are also wrong (100% in the past 25 years? Psh.) See the high-profile cases of right-wing, white supremacist attacks across the world, like Norway 2011, Pittsburgh 2018, El Paso 2019, Christchurch 2019, Buffalo 2022. There's also single-issue, such as anti-abortion, violence, like Atlanta 1996, Colorado Springs 2015. If we went a little further back The Troubles (1960s-1990s), Oklahoma City 1995, etc. Those were each horrible.
Of course, I don't think any of this is actually relevant to the FlyDubai incident; but, if you're really gonna 'go there' and if Ben keeps your disappointing exchange up on his site, let's at least get the facts. It's the individuals that are wrong, not entire groups of unaffiliated innocent people.
@1990_ who said 100%? I said they have consistently been the only ones who cause problems no matter what corner of the globe they exist, and violently so. You people just have some fetish to defend these people for some perplexing reason when their beliefs are the most violent and discriminatory. Insanity.
@ezzrraa "Who said 100%?" Eric did, and you explicitly endorsed it ("Right"...) However, sweeping generalizations don't become true just because you double-down on them.
Also, my advocating for individual accountability rather than collective punishment is more logical, fair, and effective at actually stopping the cycles of violence and suffering.
Very fortunate that the co-pilot was sloppy. Things would've ended very differently if he actually killed the only other person who could open the cockpit doors. Hope the Indian captain makes a speedy recovery!
The flight tracking data is pretty objective. I’d rely on the graphs more than randos on the internet saying “that doesn’t look like 15,000 ft/minute to me.”
Maybe the pilot had some mental and/or family problems? Look at the Air India B787 crash - captain had a lot of IIRC family issues.
Can't believe people are still using debunked air India rubbish. The AI pilot had a ailing 92 year old father, and had gone thru a divorce 10 years prior. Those family issues don't cause suicidal tendencies.
Convenient to blame the dead pilot when it's potentially an aircraft issue that might cost the company billions.
He used to fly for Oman Air who benched him for his extremist views, before he got rehired here. My question is how did FDB hire this guy AND roster him on a flight to TLV?
One correction to your points. According to the FlyDubai presser the two pilots that landed the aircraft were actually “on duty” and not off duty as you mentioned. If this is true I’m assuming they were positioning for some other operation out of Tel Aviv or Fly Dubai for some reason has additional pilots on the route for the return.
The copilot had other motivations other than just crashing the plane. Because like you said, the best way to do it is right after take off and right before landing…. Or lock the pilot out… No two buts about that. Trying to stab him then crashing the plane seems like not a good way to do about it.
The other motive unfortunately is something like crashing the plane into something in Israel.
For those trying to square the video footage with the dive, I think this is the timeline:
First officer stabs captain, who opens door.
Passengers rush the cockpit. Commotion confuses/scares other pax who start recording.
While struggling to subdue the first officer, the yoke gets pushed forward, initiating the dive.
1990, please add Orlando 2016, NYC 2017/2024 (1993 and some other date too), Pensacola/Jersey City/Monsey 2018-19, Nashville 2023, Butler 2024, Minneapolis 2020/2025, Orem 2025 to your "individuals" list.
Glidescope, I'm well-aware of each of those (especially that 'other date too'). The loss of countless innocent lives remains a tragedy every single time. And yet, those are acts committed by radicalized individuals, not by billions of ordinary, unaffiliated people.
When the worst happens, we also see stories of heroic first responders and everyday people risking everything to save others. Vilifying, scapegoating, and painting entire groups with a broad brush doesn't help prevent these tragedies; it just deepens the division and perpetuates more suffering. My hope is that we can stay focused on mitigating risks, reducing harms, and moving forward constructively.
Wuttt?? Dude. No. Just stop it. *facepalm*