What happened on flydubai flight FZ1073? | Airline Ratings
"Captain Smit Machchhar reportedly kept fighting for the safety of his passengers despite serious injuries, and his actions at the cockpit door gave the people behind him a chance to intervene."
"How the sequence of events on flight FZ1073 unfolded and the motive
"The journey began normally when the flight departed Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates at 7:05am. Two and a half hours into the flight, everything changed when the first officer tried to take over the plane, presumably to crash it. During the struggle for control, the captain was stabbed by the co-pilot, and data shows the plane plummeted 17,000ft in one to two minutes.
"The aircraft squawked 7700 for a general emergency as the rapid descent occurred and then 7500 for unlawful interference or hijacking before settling on the general emergency code again before landing. The transponder code for unlawful interference prompting the dispatch of Israeli fighter jets to the aircraft.
"A spokesman for Netanyahu told Reuters that Captain Machchhar opened the cockpit door despite his injuries, which allowed two off-duty pilots to enter and land the plane, and other crew and passengers to restrain the first officer. This, however, is unconfirmed, with other reports suggesting the cabin crew used the emergency procedure code to request access into the cockpit as they would do in the case whereby a pilot is incapacitated." More.
Flydubai didn’t suffer a random act of terrorism. It scheduled one . . . "Under security arrangements reportedly governing Flydubai flights to Israel, pilots from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel were not supposed to operate the route. Oman does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
"Yet, an Omani first officer was sitting in the cockpit of a flight bound for Tel Aviv.
"That fact deserves far more scrutiny than it has received.
"This was not information anyone discovered at 34,000 feet. Pilots do not show up for work anonymously. Airlines know who is flying their airplanes. There are crew rosters, passports, licenses, employment records, and schedules." . . .
Flydubai Flight 1073: Why Won’t The Media Call It Islamic Terrorism? "Flydubai Flight 1073 was forced to make an emergency landing after a violent cockpit attack during its flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Rich Lowry examines the media’s initial coverage of the incident and asks why suspected Islamist terrorism is so often described in more cautious terms. From the Flydubai attack to the Pulse nightclub shooting, San Bernardino, and the Manchester Arena bombing, Rich argues that the same pattern has appeared repeatedly — and contrasts that caution with the media’s coverage of the 2023 Gaza hospital explosion."
We still do not know the co-pilot's name! "The Flydubai co-pilot accused of attacking Captain Smit Machchhar and attempting to seize control of Flight FZ1073 has still not been publicly identified. Officials have described him as an Omani national, but his name remains undisclosed as Saudi, Emirati, Israeli and other authorities investigate what happened inside the cockpit and what motivated the attack. Watch!
FlyDubai Hijack Exposed Security Gap Israel’s Enemies Will Try To Exploit
"The attempted hijacking of FlyDubai Flight 1073 exposed a potentially dangerous gap in the security procedures protecting flights into Israel — despite the extraordinary actions that brought the aircraft safely to the ground. "In this episode of The Benjamin Anthony Show, Benjamin examines what happened aboard the Tel Aviv-bound flight and what the incident could mean for Israel. He is joined by MirYam Institute in-house analyst Yaakov Lappin, who argues that the remarkable outcome should not obscure what he sees as a serious failure in the system. "Benjamin and Yaakov examine the threat posed by the rogue Omani co-pilot, previous warnings over the vetting of international pilots flying into Israel, what now needs to change and why hostile actors may take notice of the vulnerability exposed by Flight 1073. "They also recount the extraordinary actions of those who helped save the aircraft, including Capt. Smit Machchhar, the badly injured pilot who managed to unlock the cockpit, and Israeli passenger Yaniv Chayon, who helped overpower the attacker and stabilise the aircraft during its catastrophic descent. "The discussion also examines Saudi Arabia’s response after the aircraft was forced to land in Tabuk, the implications for Israel’s relationship with the UAE, and the lessons that could now reshape the safeguards protecting international flights into Israel."
