Former El Al Captain Details How Flydubai Flight Avoided Catastrophe

A former senior El Al captain, Alon Peretz, analyzed the near-disaster on a Flydubai flight to Israel, attributing the avoidance of a crash to a series of "miracles." Peretz, who has tens of thousands of flight hours, described the incident in a podcast interview, stating that four critical events prevented a catastrophe. The drama began when the co-pilot, an Omani national, requested to pray in the cockpit. According to Peretz, the captain granted him privacy, at which point the co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain from behind with an emergency axe. Peretz called it the first miracle that the captain did not immediately lose consciousness or die, allowing him to fight back and open the cockpit door.

The opening of the cockpit door was crucial, Peretz explained, as it allowed passengers to intervene. A woman alerted others, and four Israeli passengers entered the cockpit and struggled with the co-pilot. Peretz praised their bravery, noting they acted against the instinct to remain passive. He cited the presence of off-duty pilots among the passengers as another miracle, enabling them to take control of the plane after the two primary crew members were incapacitated. Peretz emphasized that any one of these four factors failing to occur would have resulted in a major disaster.

Peretz also discussed the aircraft's dive and a passenger's attempt to pull the controls. He explained that a Boeing 737 has aerodynamic stability that can help it recover from a dive if there is sufficient altitude and no excessive downward force. He cautioned that a forceful, rapid attempt to pull the plane up could have caused severe damage, potentially leading to structural failure. The fact that the plane survived, despite exceeding load limits and sustaining damage to its tail rudder, demonstrated the aircraft's remarkable resilience, Peretz stated.

Beyond the fortunate circumstances, Peretz identified security lapses. He questioned Flydubai's decision to assign a pilot to a flight to Israel who he claimed was not permitted entry into the country. He also criticized Israeli security screening, suggesting that passenger and crew lists are provided in advance, and questioned how the pilot was cleared. "Someone fell asleep on watch here," Peretz remarked. He also pointed to a broader shift in aviation security post-9/11, where the focus was on preventing external threats to the cockpit, while internal threats, such as pilot suicide, received less attention, despite past incidents.