Photo Credit : Dmitriy Pichugin
Photo Credit: Phoenix 7777
Can Anyone Land a Commercial plane safely in an Emergency?*
Captain Smit Machchhar has received widespread international praise for his courage aboard flydubai Flight FZ1073. I would also like to congratulate the pilots and crew who helped land the aircraft safely. Well done on saving more than 172 lives!
In an article I posted on Facebook/Blog on 19 October 2021 (see here https://tinyurl.com/m6ak922f ), I was asked, “Can ANYONE land a commercial plane safely in an emergency?” I gave four scenarios:
- An ordinary passenger with no technical skill
- A Microsoft Flight Simulator enthusiast
- A novice single-engine pilot
- An off-duty airline pilot
The ordinary passenger was rated extremely low, while the off-duty pilot was by far the safest person to save a stricken plane.
Having both pilots incapacitated is extremely rare. Past examples include the Helios Airways case and food-poisoning incidents. That is why pilots on the same flight don’t eat the same meal at the same time. Now we have FZ1073, where the captain was allegedly attacked by the first officer and the aircraft entered a steep dive.
What has been reported so far:
- The Boeing 737 was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, when it dropped more than 17,000 feet.
- The captain, though wounded, opened the cockpit door. Passengers and crew then overpowered the co-pilot.
- Two off-duty flydubai pilots on board helped land the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
- A senior UAE official has called the incident a terrorist act. Investigators are still examining the motive and whether there was any planning.
- Captain Machchhar is recovering in hospital in Abu Dhabi.
The full story is still under investigation, and I would like to mention the off-duty pilots, whose names have not been released, for their role in saving everyone on board.
Kudos to all involved! 👏
#Aviation #Pilot #FlightSafety #flydubai #Heroes
You can read more stories in my latest book, A PILOT’S STORY here https://www.askcaptainlim.com/pilots-story