A flydubai Boeing 737 suffered what can only be described as the most terrifying inflight incident imaginable, whereby an altercation broke out in the cockpit, causing the plane to plunge around 15,000 feet in a matter of seconds. Fortunately the plane could be saved, but this was very close to having a very different outcome.
Flydubai flight plunges toward ground, transmits hijacking code
This incident happened today, Wednesday, September 30, 2026, and involves flydubai flight FZ1073, scheduled from Dubai (DXB) to Tel Aviv (TLV), which had approximately 180 people onboard. The 1,326-mile flight was operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with the registration code A6-FKF. Let’s start with what we know to be facts.
The plane took off at 7:05AM local time, and the first 2hr15min of the flight were routine, at least in terms of the route flown. However, while the plane was at its cruising altitude of 34,000 feet over northern Saudi Arabia, it suddenly entered a steep nosedive, as it descended from 34,000 feet to 19,000 feet in a little over a minute. At this point, the plane transmitted a squawk code of 7500 (the transponder code for unlawful interference), and as a result, Israel dispatched fighter jets.
Once the plane was on a more normal track, it eventually squawked 7700 (the transponder code for a general emergency). The plane then diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia (TUU), where it landed roughly 1hr25min after the incident first started, and 3hr35min after the plane first left Dubai.
The very steep descent took such a toll on the plane that it lost its rudder, given that structural limits were being pushed. It’s a miracle that the entire vertical stabilizer wasn’t lost, in which case this plane almost certainly couldn’t have been saved.
Emirati airline flydubai has released the following statement about this incident:
“Flydubai can confirm that flight FZ 1073 operating from Dubai International (DXB) to Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) on 30 September experienced an incident while en route. The aircraft has landed safely in Tabuk Airport (TUU), and all passengers are safe and accounted for. The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remain our highest priority. Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities. Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available.”
Flydubai cockpit fight included pilot getting stabbed
The thought of a plane plunging 15,000 feet in a minute is beyond terrifying. The plane reached incredibly high speeds, and as you can see, that even caused damage, since planes aren’t built to just nosedive in this way, for obvious reasons. Thank goodness that a full disaster was avoided.
This now brings us from the facts that we can determine based on flight tracking software, to what eyewitness reports suggest.
According to passengers onboard, a fight broke out in the cockpit, and this included the captain being stabbed with a knife. Now, the belief is that it was the first officer who stabbed him, but that’s not 100% confirmed. In the age of reinforced cockpit doors, you’d hope that no one else would be able to access the cockpit, for that matter.
Eventually passengers and the crew intervened and entered the cockpit, presumably because the captain opened the door, and helped pin down the attacker (believed to be the first officer, but again, it’s not 100% confirmed, so I don’t want to pass it off as fact).
Fortunately there were two pilots on the aircraft traveling as passengers, so they ended up taking over control of the aircraft and flying it, as the injured captain and the (alleged) restrained first officer were removed from the cockpit.
Israeli authorities have opened an investigation against the first officer, as the belief is that the first officer attempted to take over the aircraft in order to crash it.
What an absolutely terrifying incident. We don’t know for sure that it’s the case here, but when you look at commercial aviation accidents over the past couple of decades, one of the leading causes of them is pilots intentionally bringing down planes (including the 2022 China Eastern Boeing 737 incident, where the plane just entered a nosedive and crashed into the ground).
If that’s what happened here, everyone on this aircraft is very lucky to be alive, because this was very close to having a different ending. And if this was in fact attempted terrorism, it’s hard to imagine that the route on which this happened was a coincidence.
Bottom line
A flydubai Boeing 737 enroute from the UAE to Israel plunged toward the ground, as it descended from 34,000 feet to 19,000 feet in just over a minute. A hijacking code was then transmitted, causing fighter jets to be scrambled. Reports suggest that the first officer stabbed the captain, and then the cockpit door was opened so that more people could control the first officer.
The plane ended up then being flown by two off duty pilots, who diverted the plane to Saudi Arabia. Thank goodness this didn’t turn into a mass casualty event.
What do you make of this horrifying flydubai situation?
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