The Aporia · Like a 'vertical roller coaster': Simulating flight FZ1073's sudden plunge

Like a 'vertical roller coaster': Simulating flight FZ1073's sudden plunge

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The Straits Times. (2026, October 4). Like a 'vertical roller coaster': Simulating flight FZ1073's sudden plunge. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/like-a-vertical-roller-coaster-simulating-flight-fz1073s-sudden-plunge

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

An attack on the captain of Flydubai flight FZ1073 by the co-pilot caused the plane to plunge 16,000 feet in about 30 seconds before recovering and landing safely. The incident occurred on October 4, during a flight from Dubai to Israel. An aviation instructor recreated the descent using a flight simulator and described it as feeling like a "vertical roller coaster," emphasizing the sudden drop's impact on passengers and aircraft structure. The attacker is identified as Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national; however, Oman has not commented on the incident yet.

Written by AI on 2026-10-04, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 30, 2026, a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv signaled an emergency and was diverted to land at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. The incident initially raised concerns about a possible hijacking, prompting Israel to scramble warplanes. However, Israeli officials later reported that the emergency signals were due to a physical altercation between the plane's two pilots rather than a hijacking attempt.

The flight, identified as Flydubai Flight FZ1073, transmitted multiple emergency alerts after takeoff and over Jordanian airspace before landing safely in Saudi Arabia. Passengers on board managed to overpower the attacker, who was later identified by UAE officials as Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami. Al-Hammami allegedly attempted to crash the plane into Tel Aviv's airport but was stopped by passengers.

UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi stated that signs of al-Hammami’s radicalization first emerged in 2017 while he was studying engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He reportedly became influenced by extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorist organizations during this period.

Written for “Flydubai Hijacker's Radicalization Path” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 345 other(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

2 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

66/100

The Straits Times's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

346

Crime & Law

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-04 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Straits Times · 4330 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

The Straits Times

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Topics

Boeing FZ1073 Flydubai LODDON Reuters

Subjects

Reuters ORG · 5× Paduanelli PERSON · 4× Boeing ORG · 3× England GPE · 2× Flydubai ORG · 2× LODDON GPE · 2× al-Hammami's PERSON · 2× ALPA Simulation ORG · 1× Alberto Paduanelli PERSON · 1× Sherfield GPE · 1×

Narrative

The steep fall, after an attack on the captain by the co-pilot during a flight on Wednesday, would have put huge strain on the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft - as well as the passengers and crew, said Alberto Paduanelli, owner of ALPA Simulation in Sherfield on Loddon, southern England.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-04

🔮 Flydubai's flight FZ1073, which plunged 16,000 feet in about 30 seconds before being levelled out and landing safely, would have felt like a "vertical roller coaster", according to an aviation instructor who recreated the descent in a flight simulator for Reuters.

2026-10-04 · The Straits Times

Like a 'vertical roller coaster': Simulating flight FZ1073's sudden plunge · assertive framing

Claims (23 extracted, 2 hedged)

Flydubai's flight FZ1073, which plunged 16,000 feet in about 30 seconds before being levelled out and landing safely, would have felt like a "vertical roller coaster", according to an aviation instructor who recreated the descent in a flight simulator for Reuters. uncertain

who → plunge → Reuters

Paduanelli → put → Loddon

The co-pilot of the flydubai jet, which was bound for Israel from Dubai, attacked the pilot with an emergency crash axe, the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general said on Saturday, calling the incident a "terrorist attack". asserted

general → bind → incident

The co-pilot was identified as Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national, two sources with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters. asserted

sources → identify → Reuters

UAE authorities did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of his identity. asserted

authorities → respond → identity

Reuters could not independently reach al-Hammami for comment. uncertain

Reuters → reach → comment

Flydubai says the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation and it cannot comment further. asserted

it → say → investigation

Oman has yet to comment on the incident. asserted

Oman → have → incident

"A plunge of 16,000 feet (4,877 metres) over 30 seconds will feel like you are over on a very, very vertical roller coaster," Paduanelli said, sitting at the controls of the simulator cockpit. " asserted

Paduanelli → feel → cockpit

The difference is that on the roller coaster, you know what's happening," he said, adding that with a sudden drop "you feel the negative g-force on your body". asserted

you → know → body

For passengers who are not strapped in, "Your body will literally lift from the seat", he said. asserted

he → strap → seat

Using a simulator to recreate the incident, Paduanelli said the aircraft's autopilot disconnected before the plunge began, causing the jet to accelerate rapidly. asserted

jet → use → incident

US President Donald Trump has praised the Boeing jet for withstanding the severe forces put on it during the incident. asserted

Trump → praise → incident

The plane was levelled out after passengers overpowered the co-pilot, before a reserve crew of pilots onboard landed the plane. asserted

crew → level → plane

"It was an amazing show of precise and powerful structural planning and design," Trump posted on Truth Social, adding that the 737 Max "was able to withstand G Forces and Strain far beyond what it was designed and expected to do". asserted

it → post → what

Boeing did not respond to a request for comment. asserted

Boeing → respond → comment

Aircraft are designed and tested to withstand substantial aerodynamic loads, but Paduanelli said a prolonged high-speed dive can place extreme strain on an airframe. asserted

dive → design → airframe

"This was nothing but a miracle that nothing was hurt apart from the captain, unfortunately, and that two pilots were onboard," Paduanelli said. asserted

Paduanelli → hurt → captain

Details about al-Hammami's past have trickled out. asserted

Details → trickle → past

Royal Air Maroc told Reuters he did a three-month training with the airline in 2025 but his application to work there afterwards was rejected. asserted

application → tell → 2025

Buckinghamshire New University in Britain said he did a distance-learning course in aviation management with the institution, but no pilot training. asserted

he → say → institution

An Australian Federal Police spokesperson said on Sunday that authorities there were investigating al-Hammami's "links to Australia". asserted

authorities → say → Australia

A source briefed on the investigation said the co-pilot studied at a university in Melbourne. asserted

pilot → brief → Melbourne