How the FlyDubai jet bound for Israel managed to pull out of its sudden plunge

As a FlyDubai jet plunged to Earth on Wednesday, Yaniv Hayoun and another passenger shouldered their way into the cockpit of the Boeing 737 Max to find to find one pilot bleeding on the floor and the second leaned over the controls, apparently trying to destroy the console.

“I grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold and dragged him out first,” Yaniv Hayoun, a plumber, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting broadcast by CNN on Thursday.

Mr. Hayoun then re-entered the cockpit and yanked back on the yokes, pulling the plane out of its descent of around 5,000 metres in less than two minutes. The flight was carrying about 170 passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The yokes control the flaps on the tail, which control the angle of a plane’s nose.

Mr. Hayoun said he knew which way to move the handles because he had watched Air Crash Investigation, a TV show that re-enacts aviation disasters.

Another FlyDubai pilot on board took over the pilot’s seat and the plane continued on its way, making an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the injured pilot was rushed to hospital. That pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar of India, is credited with a key action while injured – unlocking the cockpit door and allowing the plane’s heroes to enter.

How the incident on board

the FlyDubai flight unfolded

Passengers on a flight to Israel that plunged

more than 5,000 metres after the pilot was

stabbed say surviving the incident was

a miracle

05:35: Switches to

hijacking code

05:28: Transmits general

emergency after descending

about 5,000 metres in just

two minutes

03:05: Flight FZ1073

departs Dubai airport

06:58: Makes emergency

landing at Tabuk airport.

Sept. 30, 2026, in metres

graphic news, Sources: Reuters; BBC; Flightradar2; AP

How the incident on board

the FlyDubai flight unfolded

Passengers on a flight to Israel that plunged

more than 5,000 metres after the pilot was

stabbed say surviving the incident was

a miracle

05:35: Switches to

hijacking code

05:28: Transmits general

emergency after descending

about 5,000 metres in just

two minutes

03:05: Flight FZ1073

departs Dubai airport

06:58: Makes emergency

landing at Tabuk airport.

Sept. 30, 2026, in metres

graphic news, Sources: Reuters; BBC; Flightradar2; AP

How the incident on board the FlyDubai flight unfolded

Passengers on a flight to Israel that plunged more than

5,000 metres after the pilot was stabbed say surviving

the incident was a miracle

05:35: Switches to

hijacking code

05:28: Transmits general

emergency after descending

about 5,000 metres in just

two minutes

03:05: Flight FZ1073

departs Dubai airport

06:58: Makes emergency

landing at Tabuk airport.

Sept. 30, 2026, in metres

graphic news, Sources: Reuters; BBC; Flightradar2; AP

A photo on social media showed the plane’s rudder was missing upon landing.

FlyDubai has not named the pilot who is the alleged attacker, but said all passengers and crew are safe. The suspect has been transferred to the custody of the United Arab Emirates. Israel has said the suspect is an Omani national.

“At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation,” FlyDubai said in a statement.

Since 9/11, the world’s aircraft have featured cockpit doors that can only be opened with a code known to the crew. And at the rate the plane was plunging, experts say there would have been almost no time to unlock the door.

Nigel Waterhouse, founder of Vancouver-based Can-Am Aerospace and an aviation engineer, said available data show the plane exceeded its structural limits on the plunge. These are limits prescribed by Boeing and Transport Canada, based on the airframe’s ability to withstand the massive forces of air travel.

Based on data provided by aviation tracking website FlightRadar24, the plane’s air speed after recovering from the dive of 550 nautical miles an hour exceeded its maximum cruising speed of 453 knots. On the plunge, the plane exceeded its dive limit of 566 knots, Mr. Waterhouse said.

“This plane was flown beyond its structural-limit speed, which is why they lost the rudder and they’re lucky they didn’t lose more,” he said.

While a plane can land without a rudder, it cannot do so without the tail flaps that sit parallel to the ground, known as elevators, he said.

What we know about stabbing on FlyDubai flight bound for Israel

Although Boeing aircraft are largely controlled by analog cables, pulleys and hydraulics, the Max uses software that would have cushioned the dive-correction action on the yokes. This could have prevented the massive G-force from shearing off the wings, Mr. Waterhouse said, describing the plunge as “horrendous.”

John Cox, chief executive officer of Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Fla., and a former commercial airline pilot, said the fact that the plane was able to land is testament to its manufacturer.

“Boeing designs and builds really tough aircraft,” he said.

Mr. Cox said the incident raises questions about FlyDubai’s screening and security policies. The airline is owned by Dubai, as is Emirates, a carrier known for its strict pilot-vetting standards, Mr. Cox said.

“How did this guy manage to get a knife on the airplane?” Mr. Cox said.

FlyDubai did not respond to e-mailed questions on Thursday.

In Canada, pilots and flight attendants and their luggage are checked for weapons and other prohibited items, said Anna Maddison, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, which is responsible for airport screening.

John Gradek, who teaches aviation leadership at McGill University, said the investigation will be aided by the cockpit voice recorder and black box. But the incident raises questions about the mental health and intentions of pilots, he said.

Iran will be struck ‘very hard’ if linked to FlyDubai co-pilot who tried to crash Israel-bound plane, Trump says

“Is this a lone wolf or somebody who has been caught up in the recruitment process of terrorists?”

Since 9/11, much effort has been spent securing the cockpit and subjecting passengers to heightened screening. But little has changed in the way cabin crew’s mental fitness is assessed, Mr. Gradek said.

Pilots “go through a physical and they go through a light mental health Q and A with a psychologist, and as far as I can tell there isn’t any structured protocol to understand the political leanings of an individual,” he said.