Despite footage from multiple angles and testimony from those involved, conspiracy theories circulated quickly that the attack on Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight 1073 on Sept. 30 was a “false flag,” which Israel was said to have faked to win sympathy.
Some of the conspiracy theories center on whether it is plausible that the airplane could survive a nosedive, reportedly of 14,000 feet in less than a minute, and if an Israeli plumber could actually realign it safely.
According to news reports, the Boeing 737 Max 8 entered service with flydubai on Dec. 21, 2022. Of 174 passengers on board, 150 were said to be Israeli citizens and six crew members. Omani pilot Hamam al-Hammami allegedly stabbed his Indian co-pilot, Smit Machchhar, who was reportedly able to unlock the cockpit door.
Israeli passengers came to the rescue, restrained al-Hammami and gave medical treatment to Machchhar, according to news reports. An Israeli plumber named Yaniv Hayun said that he pulled back on the yoke, the equivalent of a steering wheel, to level the plane and that he’d learned what to do from watching the television series “Mayday.”
Two off-duty pilots took over flying the plane and landed it in Saudi Arabia.
The 737 Max 8 seats between 160 and 180, with a maximum takeoff weight of 182,200 pounds, has a flight range up to about 4,025 miles and has a wingspan of 117 feet and 10 inches, according to Boeing.
The aircraft has a “speed limit” of sorts, according to a pilot for a commercial airline, who spoke to JNS on background.
“If you go too fast, structural integrity of the aircraft is no longer guaranteed,” the pilot told JNS. “That doesn’t mean it’ll necessarily split apart. It depends on the speed, but metal might bend or other parts might break.”
“So when the aircraft angles its nose down, it picks up speed,” she said. “If you go over that ‘speed limit,’ the structural integrity can be compromised.”
The cockpit door “opens differently with different ways of locking for each type and manufacturer,” the pilot told JNS.
Despite the conspiracy theories, Boeing cannot explain why its aircraft held up in this extreme circumstance, a company spokeswoman told JNS.
That’s because Saudi Arabia is currently investigating the incident, and an International Civil Aviation Organization law called Annex 13, which the International Civil Aviation Organization developed, renders “any accident or incident of an aircraft anywhere in the world” the subject of investigation and bars airplane manufacturers from commenting publicly if the country investigating the incident makes that request.
“While it may seem very open and or cut-and-dry, especially given that there’s been so much publicity and open comments about it, Boeing, as a participant, is limited in what we can talk about,” the spokeswoman told JNS.
“We treat all these Annex 13 cases the same way,” she said. “That’s why sometimes during accidents, Boeing can’t comment. It may sound like we’re avoiding, but we’re not.”
The spokeswoman told JNS about the importance of Annex 13 to avoid fueling conspiracy theories.
