Detailed flight tracking data from Flydubai flight FZ1073 shows the Tel Aviv-bound jet went into two violent dives during Wednesday's alleged cockpit attack, at one point descending fast enough that it could have struck the ground in under 30 seconds had the plunge continued.
An analysis of granular Flightradar24 data, recorded at roughly one reading per second, shows the Boeing 737 MAX 8 cruising at about 34,000 feet over northern Saudi Arabia before its first dip began at 05:21:09 UTC. The aircraft then entered a near vertical dive, with a descent rate estimated at more than 32,600 feet per minute, though tracking signals during the steepest part of the plunge were partly garbled.
The jet bottomed out at 16,600 feet at 05:22:40 UTC, about 14,500 feet above the desert floor, traveling at a ground speed of 598 knots. At the peak descent rate, that remaining height would have been covered in roughly 27 seconds.
The aircraft then climbed back to 21,725 feet by 05:23:23 before entering a second dive. It eventually leveled off and held between roughly 13,700 and 15,400 feet. The crew set the emergency transponder code 7700 at 05:28:48 UTC, about seven and a half minutes after the first dip began.
