Dentro del vuelo Flydubai que casi acaba en catástrofe

Flydubai flight FZ 1073 departed Dubai International Airport normally on Wednesday morning at 6:49 AM local time, heading to Tel Aviv as part of the many daily flights between the UAE and Israel. The 174 passengers on board, mostly Israeli, arrived early for their trip, which was expected to take three hours. For the first two and a half hours of the flight, everything went smoothly, with passengers coming from various backgrounds including those on transit from Asia, tourists ending their vacations in Dubai, and businessmen accustomed to the three-hour route between the two countries.

The plane cruised at 34,000 feet over the Gulf waters before heading west, passing over the Saudi Arabian desert. However, chaos erupted on board when a disturbance broke out in the cockpit, causing the plane to suddenly drop 18,000 feet in just 90 seconds - a descent captured on Flightradar24 data. For the following 11 minutes, the aircraft experienced a series of rapid ascents and descents while the crew struggled to regain control, with airspeed increasing from 400 to over 600 mph - well above the normal cruising speed.

Passengers screamed and young children cried as the plane plummeted, with a woman screaming "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God" in a subsequent social media video. At 8:31 AM local time, the plane issued a general emergency alert (code 7700) for a possible mechanical failure or medical issue, which was later upgraded to a hijacking warning (code 7500) indicating possible illicit interference.

The pilot communicated to air traffic control that he had lost control of the aircraft. Inside the cabin, a copilot had grabbed a knife from the cockpit, sparking a violent struggle for control. Israeli sources later identified the attacker as an Omani national, though the motives remained unclear. Israeli passenger Tzvika Manes and a member of the crew managed to overpower the copilot and subdue him with the help of other passengers.

Three passengers then jumped on the attacker, restraining him with seatbelt cables. Multiple passengers subdued the attacker, with Dan Zoller stating it took 20-30 minutes of effort to subdue him alongside others. A third pilot from Flydubai took control of the plane, stabilizing it at around 15,000 feet altitude, half the cruising altitude for long-haul flights.

The aircraft was then flown to Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing as the crew had no clear option due to the remote desert terrain. After landing, passengers applauded and sang a traditional Jewish song, expressing relief and gratitude.