New images of the flydubai Boeing 737 MAX that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday reveal significant damage to the aircraft’s tail following the terrifying mid-air incident aboard the Tel Aviv-bound flight.
Photos taken after the aircraft landed safely at Tabuk Airport show that a section of the rudder on the rear of the plane is missing from its vertical stabilizer.
The damage provides a dramatic indication of the extreme forces the aircraft may have experienced when it suddenly plunged from its cruising altitude during the incident in which the copilot allegedly stabbed the captain.
Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft flying at approximately 34,000 feet before suddenly entering a steep descent, dropping to roughly 17,000 feet in under a minute.
The Boeing 737 MAX subsequently recovered somewhat before descending again and eventually stabilizing at a lower altitude as the emergency continued.
Arik Zer, a former head of aviation security at the Shin Bet, told Channel 12 that he believes the violent descent itself likely caused the visible damage to the rudder.
According to Zer, the damage did not appear consistent with the aircraft being struck by an external object.
Images from Tabuk also showed passengers — many of them Israelis — walking off the aircraft following its safe landing.
The damage comes amid an ongoing investigation into the extraordinary incident aboard the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
According to passenger accounts and Israeli media reports, the copilot allegedly stabbed and seriously wounded the captain during the flight. Israeli passengers and crew members subsequently intervened and subdued the alleged attacker as the aircraft experienced its dramatic loss of altitude.
The flight transmitted the international 7700 emergency code and later squawked 7500, the aviation code indicating hijacking or unlawful interference, before diverting to Saudi Arabia.
Israeli fighter jets were scrambled during the emergency, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and senior security officials held urgent consultations.
Israeli security officials are investigating whether the incident was an attempted terror attack aimed at deliberately crashing the aircraft. No final determination regarding the motive has yet been announced.
Despite the terrifying plunge, the violent confrontation aboard the aircraft and the damage sustained by the plane, the flight ultimately landed safely in Tabuk.
B’chasdei Hashem, the passengers were able to safely disembark.
(YWN Israel Desk — Jerusalem)
