Struggle in the sky
Passengers and crew on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30 foiled what Israeli officials said was an attempt by the co-pilot to crash the aircraft, averting disaster. A reserve crew then took control and landed the plane in Saudi Arabia.
What the flight data tells us
02:49:52 GMT
Flydubai flight 1073, carrying 174 passengers and crew members, departed Dubai for Tel Aviv at 7:05 a.m. local time (0305 GMT), and was cruising at 34,000 feet over Saudi Arabia.
More detailed two dimensional flight data shows the aircraft’s movements were even more erratic. In just a few minutes, the plane that had been cruising smoothly at 34,000 feet lurched into violent climbs and dives, shed some 17,000 feet of altitude, and surged to nearly 600 knots of ground speed, about 45% faster than its normal cruising pace, before slowly steadying.
###
35,000
Cruising
altitude
Rapid descent
followed by recovery
25,000
15,000
Vertical speed (feet / min)
Fast
movement
upwards...
20,000
0
... and
downwards
\-20,000
45% faster
than cruising
speed
Ground speed (knots)
600
500
400
300
05:20 a.m.
05:22
05:24
05:26
Altitude (feet)
Cruising altitude
Altitude (feet)
Rapid descent
followed by recovery
25,000
15,000
20,000
Fast movement
upwards...
Vertical speed (feet / min)
0
\-20,000
... and downwards
Flight was 45% faster than
cruising speed at one point
600
Ground speed (knots)
500
400
300
05:20 a.m.
05:22
05:24
05:26
35,000
Cruising altitude
Altitude (feet)
Rapid descent followed by recovery
25,000
15,000
20,000
Vertical speed (feet / min)
Fast movement upwards...
0
Stable flight
\-20,000
... and downwards
Flight was moving 45% faster
than cruising speed at one point
600
Ground speed (knots)
500
400
300
05:20 a.m.
05:22
05:24
05:26
35,000
Cruising altitude
Altitude (feet)
Rapid descent followed by recovery
25,000
15,000
20,000
Vertical speed (feet / min)
Fast movement upwards...
0
Stable flight
\-20,000
... and downwards
Flight was moving 45% faster
than cruising speed at one point
600
Ground speed (knots)
500
400
300
05:20 a.m.
05:22
05:24
05:26
35,000
Line charts show the flydubai jet’s altitude, vertical speed and ground speed from 05:20 to 05:26 GMT. The plane drops from about 34,000 feet to about 17,000 feet in under a minute, partly recovers, then levels off near 15,000 feet, while its ground speed briefly rises about 45% above cruising speed.
Although the flydubai 1073 aircraft recovered from the plunge, its initial descent was strikingly steep. The trajectory can be compared with the rapid descents of aircraft involved in several major crashes, a Reuters analysis showed.
###
Flydubai 1073
Sriwijaya Air 182
−10,000
SilkAir 185
−20,000
Air France 447
Crashed into the Atlantic Ocean
in 2009
China Eastern Airlines 5735
−30,000
feet
Air Asia 8501
Crashed into the Java Sea in 2014
0 min
descent
1
2
3
Aligned to peak altitude
Flydubai 1073
Sriwijaya Air 182
−10,000
SilkAir 185
−20,000
China Eastern
Airlines 5735
Air France 447
Crashed into the
Atlantic Ocean
in 2009
−30,000
feet
Air Asia 8501
Crashed into the
Java Sea in 2014
0 min
descent
1
2
3
Aligned to peak altitude
Flydubai 1073
Sriwijaya Air 182
−10,000
SilkAir 185
−20,000
China Eastern
Airlines 5735
Air France 447
Crashed into the
Atlantic Ocean in 2009
−30,000
feet
Air Asia 8501
Crashed into the
Java Sea in 2014
0 min
descent
1
2
3
Aligned to peak altitude
Multiline chart comparing how quickly the flydubai jet lost altitude with the descents of aircraft in previous crashes, including Air France 447 and AirAsia 8501. Each line starts at the flight’s peak altitude, shown as zero, and tracks the feet lost over the following minutes. The flydubai jet dropped about 17,000 feet, with a descent as steep as some of the crash flights in its first moments, before levelling off rather than continuing down.
At its steepest point, the plane was losing altitude at about 544 feet (166 metres) per second, roughly equivalent to the height of 44 storeys of the Empire State Building every second.
###
Empire
State
Building
to scale
Maximum rate at which
the plane lost altitude
One second
544 ft (166m) of altitude
lost each second during
parts of the nosedive
The equivalent of
around 44 storeys
Extreme drop
Empire State
Building
to scale
Maximum rate at which the plane lost altitude
One second
544 ft (166m) of altitude
lost each second during
parts of the nosedive
The equivalent of
around 44 storeys
Extreme drop
Empire State
Building
to scale
Maximum rate at which the plane lost altitude
One second
544 ft (166m) of altitude
lost each second during
parts of the nosedive
The equivalent of
around 44 storeys
Extreme drop
Illustrated graphic showing the flydubai jet’s fastest rate of descent against a drawing of the Empire State Building, to scale. A plane with a downward arrow sits beside a shaded band that stretches across the middle section of the building. The band represents the 166 metres (544 feet) of altitude the plane lost each second during parts of the nosedive.
Thewounded captain managed to unlock the cockpit door, allowing passengers to subdue the attacker, Israeli officials said. A reserve crew that had been aboard landed the plane at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia.
Flydubai said on Wednesday the circumstances surrounding the incident are still being investigated. Reuters was not able to contact the co-pilot, who has been detained.
Sources
Flightradar24; Natural Earth; OpenStreetMap; Copernicus Digital Elevation Model; The United States National Transportation Safety Board, Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee; and the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety
Edited by
Simon Scarr and Alexander Smith