New details on the Flydubai drama: The maneuver that nearly broke the plane in mid-air

New flight data reveals the severity of the incident on a Flydubai flight: a 39-degree dive, speed of nearly Mach 1, and a load of over 3G. Two pilots from the passenger cabin managed to take control of the aircraft after the first officer attacked the captain, and landed it in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The rescue maneuver itself nearly caused the plane to break apart in mid-air.

New flight data published by the Wall Street Journal reveals the severity of the incident on a Flydubai flight, in which a first officer attacked the captain, causing an extreme dive. The aircraft dove at a 39-degree angle, reached a speed of nearly Mach 1 (0.96), and lost 15,000 feet in just 55 seconds. The load on the aircraft during the pullout reached 3.08G, above the 737 MAX's operating limit of 2.5G. Two pilots from the passenger cabin, including Yaniv Hayon, managed to take control of the aircraft after the first officer was neutralized and the captain was injured. Commentator Ben Caspit explained that an overly aggressive pull on the controls could have caused the plane to break apart in mid-air, but because Hayon pulled gently and gradually, combined with the autopilot system, the aircraft survived. Part of the rudder in the tail was damaged, but the plane managed to fly for over an hour and land in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The incident raises anew the question of cockpit security when the threat comes from within.