Courtesy of Almog Italie
- Almog Italie and his family were on Flydubai flight FZ1073.
- Italie said the plane dropped rapidly, like a "rollercoaster."
- "In situations like this, you have to remain calm to stay alive," he said.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Almog Italie, 52, who works in digital marketing and lives in Ness Ziona, Israel. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
On September 30, my family was traveling back from a two-week holiday in Japan with Flydubai.
It was a terrific vacation, but we had some bad weather, including an earthquake and a typhoon. It was a very extreme trip. Then, on our way back, our airplane dived.
Our stopover was in Dubai, and we were meant to land in Tel Aviv, not too far from where we live. But our plane started descending rapidly near the end of the journey, and there was a disturbance in the cockpit.
Initially, we thought it was an attack, but we don't know the facts, and we don't have conclusions yet.
I would never have imagined something like this would happen on our way home from vacation.
The sudden descent on board was quite scary
My wife, two children, and I were on the plane together. At first, it was a smooth flight. As we reached the Jordanian border, the airplane suddenly began to drop rapidly. It was descending very quickly like a roller coaster. It was quite scary.
At first, we thought we hit some turbulence, but I didn't hear any alerts from the pilot asking us to buckle up. We also realized it was too much of a disruption to be turbulence. I didn't see the masks come down. Maybe we didn't lose pressure.
The airplane seemed to balance for a while before descending again. I saw people rushing to the cockpit, and after a few minutes, somebody came and told us that one of the pilots had stabbed another pilot. They said the person now piloting the flight was looking for an airport where we could land. From what I could tell, it was a small handful of passengers who helped take control. They told all the passengers to be prepared, because we might have a rough landing.
During the descent, my family and I were trying to buckle up and save our lives. When the plane started ascending again, there was a massive force, which made it hard to even sit. My back was sticking to the chair.
I tried to make a joke to my kids, who are 13 and 16, that this was just an extension of the roller coaster they rode at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka a few days ago. They laughed, but they also understood it was a scary moment. We tried to be calm and not panic.
I never had a thought that I might die, but as I process what happened, I might understand that I was in a critical situation.
It will take some time to process what happened
The flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia. It was a big relief to land, and we got a warm welcome from the authorities on the ground. They took care of medical stuff, food, and whatever was needed. It was much appreciated.
To my understanding, one pilot stabbed another pilot, and the pilot who was attacked managed to open the door. A few passengers ran inside, managed to knock down the attacker, and balance the plane.
From a distance, I saw the injured pilot being taken out of the plane to go to the hospital.
We still needed to get back to Tel Aviv. We waited for what felt like somewhere between five and eight hours for a replacement flight. Now that we're home, we need to process what happened. It will take some days, for sure.
This event won't stop me from traveling
I'm a traveler. I've been all around the world. I can't be stopped by a rare occasion or event like this.
What worked well was that once the plane was balanced, people on the flight stayed in their seats and didn't panic. Staying in your seats and listening to orders is the way to be.
In situations like this, you have to remain calm to stay alive.
In a public statement, a Flydubai spokesperson said: "We are fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigation and maintaining the highest safety standards across our network."