'Try Harder': Flydubai FZ1073 'False Flag' Believers and Sceptics Clash Over 17,000-Foot Plunge
UAE prosecutors say the co-pilot attacked the captain and attempted to seize the controls
The dramatic 17,000-foot plunge of Flydubai flight FZ1073 has become the centre of a fierce online battle, with 'false flag' believers questioning whether the 30 September emergency unfolded as authorities have described.
Their doubts intensified after supposed footage from the flight was exposed as unrelated 2025 material. Sceptics, however, say the conspiracy claims ignore flight-tracking data, emergency transponder codes and UAE prosecutors' findings that the co-pilot attacked the captain and attempted to seize control.
False Flag Debate Erupts Over 17,000-Foot Plunge
On social media some users challenged accounts of the incident by pointing to photographs showing passengers standing after the emergency.
'Dropped 17,000 feet, yet photos show passengers are on their feet. Try harder, but this time using some logic,' one user wrote.
𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲:The co-pilot volunteered to be arrested and interrogated.The captain volunteered to be stabbed.Flightradar24 recorded a fake dive in real time.ADS-B Exchange independently recorded the exact same fake dive.Saudi ATC and radar logs recorded a fake emergency and landing.UAE ATC records logged the departure of a flight supposedly involved in an incident that never happened.Israeli ATC records logged the expected arrival of that same flight.The flight data recorder recorded fake altitude and control inputs.The cockpit voice recorder somehow matched the fake story too.Saudi aviation authorities agreed to write a preliminary assessment confirming a fake incident.UAE investigators agreed to open a real investigation into a staged event.Roughly 174 passengers agreed to fake an emergency and film it from every angle.Passengers agreed to storm the cockpit on cue and then give interviews afterward.Tabuk Airport and Saudi air traffic control agreed to handle a fake emergency landing.Saudi medical staff agreed to treat fake injuries and keep the secret.Israeli officials agreed to publicly discuss an incident they knew was fake.Ben Gurion Airport staff and ambulances agreed to wait for a plane that was never really in danger.News outlets independently verified fake passenger videos and all somehow reached the same conclusion.Passenger videos and photos from multiple phones all showed the same fake blood and chaos.The aircraft itself was physically damaged as part of the fake story.Saudi hospital records documented injuries from an attack that supposedly never happened.Custody and transfer records were created to document the pilots being moved to the UAE.Saudi authorities put the incident in writing in their preliminary assessment.Multiple governments and organizations issued matching official statements.Independent news organizations all separately reported the same fake event.The FlyDubai flight crew agreed to fake the entire incident.The cabin crew agreed to act terrified for the whole flight.FlyDubai management agreed to issue statements about an incident they knew was fake.So the theory requires hundreds of passengers, airline employees, medical staff, investigators, three countries’ aviation systems, flight-tracking services, journalists, physical aircraft damage, hospital records, radar data, and official documents to all be coordinated perfectly without anyone exposing it.
— Nick Matau (@nick_matau) October 3, 2026
Others questioned how the cockpit was regained so quickly and how the aircraft survived such an extreme descent. Another commenter argued that sceptics were attacking the broadest version of the conspiracy theory rather than claims involving possible foreknowledge or later exploitation of the incident.
Those doubts have been met with forceful responses. One viral post listed the number of people, organisations and systems that would theoretically need to participate if the entire emergency were fabricated, including passengers, crew, air-traffic controllers, investigators and independent flight-tracking services.
Some responses, however, veered into antisemitic claims about Jews and Israel, while other users mocked those tropes and accused 'false flag' believers of allowing prejudice to shape their conclusions.
What Flight Data and UAE Officials Say Happened
There is now more official information than was available immediately after the incident.
UAE Attorney-General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said on 3 October that investigators found the co-pilot had attempted a 'terrorist act,' attacking the captain with a cockpit crash axe and attempting to seize the aircraft's controls. He said investigators were still examining the motive, possible links and physical and digital evidence.
Reuters reported that FZ1073 descended about 16,000 feet in 30 seconds. Flightradar24 recorded the aircraft transmitting code 7700, indicating a general emergency, followed by 7500, the code for unlawful interference.
The aircraft landed safely at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk after those aboard regained control.
Fake Flydubai Video Keeps 'False Flag' Questions Alive
Part of the suspicion stems from misinformation around the story.
A viral video supposedly showing FZ1073 passengers celebrating after surviving the emergency was not from the flight. Lead Stories traced it to August 2025 footage of Israel's men's basketball team travelling to EuroBasket.
Full Fact found another clip attributed to FZ1073, combined footage of an unrelated flight over Dubai with audio from a 2022 turbulence incident.
Those discoveries explain why some users became suspicious of imagery circulating around FZ1073, but they do not establish that the underlying flight emergency was fabricated.
Furthermore, the investigation is also unfinished. Al Shamsi said final results will be announced once investigative procedures are complete, leaving questions about motive and major security failures unresolved.
So far, the online argument has split into two questions: whether misleading material circulated after FZ1073, which has been established, and whether that means the 17,000-foot plunge itself was staged, a claim for which no substantive evidence has emerged.
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