Flydubai axe attack: Aircraft ‘30 seconds’ from crashing in dive, relief crew were heroes, pilot trainer says

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A pilot trainer says the Flydubai Boeing 737 flew outside its limits after the attack on Captain Smit Machchhar (inset).

Security screening for pilots and the relevance of the axe in the cockpit are under scrutiny after the Flydubai hijack attempt.

Airline pilot and Massey University School of Aviation chief executive Ashok Poduval said relief crew on board Flight 1073 faced extraordinary challenges.

“They did a fantastic job, recovering the aircraft from where it was, flying it with a portion of the rudder missing and then making the decision to land in Tabuk.”

Airlines sometimes carried additional crew, deploying them to a destination so they could be ready to begin duties on later flights.

The flight was heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv but was landed in Saudi Arabia after the attack.