Security expert: flydubai pilot smuggled knife on board, attacked captain with cockpit axe
The second officer of flydubai’s FZ1073 smuggled a small knife on board and used it to stun his captain before attacking him with an axe stored in the cockpit for emergencies, according to a security expert.
The second officer of flydubai flight FZ1073 smuggled a small knife on board the passenger flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv and used it to temporarily disable or stun his captain, Smit Machchhar, before inflicting serious injuries on his fellow pilot with an axe stored in the cockpit for emergencies, an aviation security consultant said.
Shannon Wandmaker, the Brisbane-based director of CW Aviation Security Consulting, said his aviation sources had shared details of the desperate fight for control of the Boeing 737 over Saudi Arabia on Wednesday between the Indian pilot and his deputy, who is reportedly a citizen of Oman, an affluent but deeply conservative Islamic state.
As the two men fought over the aircraft, it plunged so fast that the rudder was damaged, adding to the challenge of a stand-by flydubai pilot who happened to be travelling in the main cabin, Mr Wandmaker said he was told. The security consultant emphasised that his information was based on incomplete reports and could change as the full account of what happened was disclosed by aviation officials.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“They were probably very lucky for a couple of reasons,” he said. “Only the rudder was damaged and the aircraft was still flyable. And the captain was available to take control of the aircraft. My understanding is the (original) captain was in no state to fly the aircraft. They were very, very lucky they had a qualified captain from flydubai there.
“If either of those things weren’t in place then I think the situation could be very different. If you’re in a position where you have a captain incapable of flying and the first officer restrained, there is only one outcome from that if nobody else is able to fly the aircraft.”
Passenger aircraft have what is called a “crash axe” in their cockpits to use to break out of the plane if it crashes. The axes used to be stored in the main cabins but were shifted to the pilots’ area after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US 25 years ago, Mr Wandmaker said.
Publicly available flight data shows about two hours after taking off the plane fell from 34,000 to about 20,000 feet in a short time, rapidly gained altitude, then dived again to around 15,000 feet. A one-minute video from the main cabin shows passengers crying, screaming and holding on to seats as the plane plunges out of the sky. A person can be heard saying: “Sit down. Sit down. Sit down.”
Taking control
The 174 people on board were from Israel and other countries, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held a video-recorded meeting with a passenger, Yaniv Hayun, who said he was the first person to enter the cockpit with one of two extra flybubai pilots on board.
“He and I pushed the door,” Mr Hayun said. “The pilot who was stabbed was very close to the door so it was hard for us to open.”
Mr Netanyahu asked if the pilot had unlocked the door. “He managed to open it,” Mr Hayun said. “Before he collapsed, he succeeded.
“When I entered I saw the terrorist on the devices between the two seats. I grabbed the terrorist and choked him. Pulled him out.”
Mr Netanyahu said: “What did he do with those devices?”
“He tried to destroy the devices in order to neutralise the plane,” Mr Hayun said. “We took him outside. It was seconds. The plane was still in the air like this. I called to the Israeli guys who were on the plane. I called them: ‘come’. Two more guys came to me. I told them. We threw him to the side. I jumped back to this. I pulled the wheels.”
Based on the man’s hand gestures, the wheels were the Boeing’s control yoke, which is used to fly the plane.
“Are you pulling the wheels?” Mr Netanyahu said. “You knew? Backwards?”
“I watch the show Mayday,” Mr Hayun said, prompting both men to laugh. “The plane started to balance a little more and then the flight attendant (the pilot) told me he’s taking control from here.”
Mayday, known in Australia as Air Crash Investigation, is a Canadian documentary TV series that uses reenactments to describe aviation hijackings, bombings, crashes and near crashes.
Unlawful interference
A video taken from the plane in the aftermath of the fight shows a badly bloodied and dazed Captain Machchhar lying on the floor with an oxygen mask over his mouth. A man in what appears to be a flydubai pilot’s uniform is at his feet, tied up and not moving.
Seven minutes after the first dive the plane’s transponder — a type of radio transmitter — was set to 7700, the code for an emergency. Another seven minutes later it was set to 7500, the code for “unlawful interference”, which includes a hijacking. It was then switched back to 7700.
Passenger Zvika Meness told Israeli public broadcaster Kan News that he and other passengers tied the attacker up “with his own zip ties and with the multimedia headphones”.
The plane landed safely at a military base in northern Saudi Arabia. They were flown on a replacement aircraft to Ben-Gurion International Airport at Tel Aviv, where they were greeted by a crowd celebrating their return, including Mr Netanyahu.
A FlyDubai spokesperson said the motive behind the attack was unclear. “We urge all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts,” they said.
More to come
