12 minutes of madness: how Flydubai pilot and passengers saved the plane in the middle of the fall | Aviation news

The “hero” Indian captain of Flydubai flight FZ1073 has described how he struggled to open his plane’s cockpit door as he was stabbed by his co-pilot on Wednesday.

In a video call Thursday from his hospital bed in Saudi Arabia, Captain Smit Machchhar told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “When I was down there, I could feel the plane was in free fall, and I knew it was my last chance to do something. I knew the door was right there.”

Thanks to his action and as the plane was hurtling towards the ground, the passengers and crew were able to storm the cockpit, subdue their attacker and regain control of the plane, ultimately preventing it from crashing.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump praised the actions of an “Israeli plumber” on board whose quick actions in the cockpit helped avert a major tragedy.

“An Israeli plumber saw what was happening – he’s strong; you know, when you lift pipes all day, you’re strong – and he saw what was happening and he heard the screams,” Trump told reporters.

As the plane plummeted about 17,000 feet (5,180 meters) in just a few minutes, the US president said: “With the G-forces as they were, he ripped the man from his seat, threw him back – the crowd caught him – and, having never flown an airplane, he took the stick, lifted it and leveled the plane before it crashed.” »

In the days following the incident, other passenger testimonies were published.

At 7:05 a.m. (03:05 GMT) on Wednesday, flight FZ1073 left Dubai for Tel Aviv, climbing to 34,000 feet (more than 10,000 meters), according to Flightradar24. A little over two hours later, it suddenly began to descend, plunging before rising and then falling again.

At 05:33 GMT, 12 minutes after the plane began to fall, it was flying at about 15,000 feet (4,570 meters) when it began to stabilize.

Here’s what we know about what happened in those terrifying intervening minutes.

05:21 GMT: Flydubai plane begins steep descent

Data from Flightradar24 shows the plane began with a deep descent, followed by a steep climb and a second steep descent.

Passenger Adam Polo, who was on the plane with his wife and two young children, told CNN that for a moment the initial drop felt like “a normal air pocket.” “But after a second, you felt that the decrease and acceleration of the fall was not normal.”

“The electricity, the entire multimedia system and the air conditioning of the plane no longer worked,” he said. “People who were standing in the aisle or just going to the bathroom were falling. Everyone who wasn’t sitting was falling. So it was like the craziest roller coaster you’ve ever been on, but times a thousand.”

In two minutes, the plane had descended more than 17,000 feet. Passengers who have spoken to the media since their safe return home described “chaos” in the cabin with screams and multiple waves of turbulence.

“The plane was descending sharply at an incredible angle, so sharp that the rudder ripped off the back of the plane,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “The plane was not designed to go anywhere near that speed, so it was well beyond its limits.”

“I am fighting for my life”: the captain stabbed

In the meantime, a fight had started in the cockpit between the two pilots. The co-pilot had attacked the Indian captain of the plane, Smit Machchhar, by stabbing him.

On Thursday, Machchhar described how he suddenly found himself on the cockpit floor, seriously injured.

“I was lying on the ground, injured, but I told myself to push one last time to open the door from the inside,” he told Modi in a video call.

All cockpit doors remain locked during flights and only the pilots can open them. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman, Doron Spielman, told media that although he was bloodied and lying on the ground, Machchhar had used “the last moments of his energy” to open the cockpit door shutter.

“Others came and also played a role. Of course, I was fighting for my own life, but at the same time, I knew that I was not going to let others die,” Machchhar told Modi.

Netanyahu has since hailed Machchhar as a “true hero,” saying he showed “extraordinary bravery” and saved the lives of all 174 people on board the plane with that single act.

“Although he was stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door and allowed the passengers and crew to subdue the attacker – thus avoiding a catastrophic air disaster,” he said on X.

The captain told Modi that he had been flying planes for 17 years and “could tell what is happening to the plane even with his eyes closed.”

The Prime Minister told him that “his courage, patience and quick decision-making saved the lives of so many people” and all of India was proud of him.

On Thursday, the Indian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates reported that Machchhar was “in good health and recovering well” in Abu Dhabi, where he was flown after receiving initial treatment in Saudi Arabia.

The Indian embassy in Riyadh said the “brave Indian pilot” was initially admitted to hospital in Tabuk, a city in northwestern Saudi Arabia where the plane landed.

“A full update on his health is awaited but his condition is said to be stable. We hope he recovers from his injuries as soon as possible,” we can read on X.

“Like in the movies”: passengers storm the cockpit

As soon as the captain opened the door, according to passenger Tzvika Manes, his wife, who was taking their young daughter to the toilet at the front of the plane, heard screams and a struggle in the cockpit.

As she alerted a flight attendant, the pilot fell through the cockpit door as his co-pilot stabbed him, Manes told Israel’s Channel 12. Manes said he took his daughter out of the toilet before walking towards the attacker.

At that point, “some of the passengers who realized something was happening ran forward, entered the pilot’s cabin. They saw the injured pilot on the ground, and the other, … the attacking pilot, was standing over the control panel, punching the control panel,” Spielman said.

Asaf Rajuan, one of the Israeli passengers who restrained the co-pilot, told Channel 12 that the incident “was like in the movies. I didn’t think something like that could happen in real life.”

Rajuan said he and other passengers heard screams coming from the cockpit as they felt the plane collapse.

Passenger Yaniv Hayun, the Israeli plumber Trump referred to, later recounted in a television interview how he, Manes and Rajuan forced their way into the cockpit, where they found the injured captain lying near the door.

“When I entered, I saw the terrorist at the controls, between the two seats. There was no pilot in the seats. I grabbed the terrorist, put him in the hold and pulled him out first,” he said, adding that the co-pilot seemed to want to destroy the cockpit controls.

Once the co-pilot was in the cabin, passengers, including a dentist who was treating the captain’s injuries, spent several minutes restraining him, using wired headphones to strap him in. Some reported that he shouted, “Kill me!” »

“Bounced”: a passenger takes control of the plane

After pulling the co-pilot into the cabin, Hayun rushed to the cockpit.

“I jumped in there, grabbed the controls and started pulling them,” he said. “I watch Mayday,” he added, referring to a Canadian television series about air crashes.

At this point, another pilot who was traveling further in the plane arrived at the cockpit.

“The plane started to stabilize a little more, and then the pilot told me he was taking over from there,” Hayun said.

At 05:28 GMT – it is unclear whether this was before or after the new pilot reached the cockpit – the plane began transmitting transponder code 7700, the international code for a general emergency. The plane was flying near the border between Saudi Arabia and Jordan at the time.

“Really bad condition”: passenger tends to be captain

The dentist, who was returning to Israel from China, rushed to help the injured captain amid the chaos.

Shota Musayev told The Times of Israel: “When I heard screaming, after 10 seconds I ran – I didn’t wait. When I entered the cockpit, the pilot was in really bad condition with heavy bleeding, especially from the head.”

“I was the only doctor on the plane and eventually managed to stop the bleeding and stabilize his blood pressure,” he said.

Musayev said he believed the emergency medical care he provided to the 39-year-old pilot helped save Machchhar’s life.

“It was a very difficult time, but with a few brave people on board the plane, we managed to avoid a situation that was very close to a disaster,” Musayev said. He also told Channel 12 how he repeatedly tied the co-pilot’s hands and legs to secure him.

05:33 GMT: Flydubai plane flies at 15,000 feet

Flightradar24 recorded the plane stabilized at 15,000 feet. Two minutes later, at 05:35 GMT, its transponder code changed to 7500, signaling illegal interference. Then the plane turned west, briefly entered Jordanian airspace, then turned back toward Saudi Arabia.

05:44 GMT: Alert requesting emergency landing

Tabuk air traffic controllers received a distress call from FZ1073 requesting an emergency landing.

As the plane approached Tabuk, its transponder returned to code 7700, indicating a general emergency.

06:58 GMT: FZ1073 lands

Nearly four hours after takeoff, the Flydubai plane landed in Tabuk, where emergency medical personnel and security officials awaited the 174 people on board, including the injured attacker, the bleeding pilot and the “plumber” who temporarily took over the plane’s control panel.