For a few frightening minutes, passengers thought they would not reach the ground alive. At about 8:20 am, flydubai flight FZ1073 began to fall. It lost 17,400 feet in just under two minutes. That is more than six times the height of the Burj Khalifa, and it happened over a plane carrying about 180 people.
They heard shouting, ‘Help, help! The flight descended about 17,400 feet in roughly two minutes before the first emergency signal was transmitted. 6:05 am: FZ1073 takes off from Dubai 8:20 am: The plane begins losing altitude. It descends 17,400 feet in just under two minutes. Israeli officials said the plane carried between 160 and 180 passengers.
Flydubai said the flight “experienced an incident while en route” and that all passengers were safe and accounted for. “She said one pilot tried to kill the other pilot with a knife. And one woman with three children went to the (cockpit) and saw a lot of blood,” she told AFP. Flightradar24 said the plane first sent an emergency signal, then a signal for unlawful interference, and then an emergency signal again. 8:31 am: The flight squawks code 7700, the International Civil Aviation Organisation code for an emergency 8:35 am: The flight squawks code 7500, which signals a hijacking 8:41 am: The plane turns around and enters Jordanian airspace 8:46 am: The plane re-enters Saudi airspace 9:54 am: FZ1073 touches down at Tabuk Airport Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations and was “monitoring developments”, his office said. “The incident is under control, and all measures are currently being deployed in order to return the Israeli passengers safely to Israel,” it added. “The attacking pilot has been arrested and is currently being questioned by the Saudi authorities,” said the Israeli prime minister.
The captain and co-pilot were taken to hospital, and coordination was underway to arrange a replacement aircraft. Statements from Tabuk’s Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport said the airport received a distress call at 8:44 a.m. local time and declared a state of emergency. In its statement, the airport gave the landing time as 9:45 am local time and said the plane landed safely just over an hour after the call.
