Flydubai co-pilot plotted ‘suicide’ attack on Israel, UAE says

What the report says

UAE authorities say a Flydubai co-pilot who attacked his captain during a September 30 flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was acting out a plan to crash the aircraft at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport. In a statement reported by state news agency WAM and cited by Al Jazeera, Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi said investigators view the alleged plot as a “suicide” mission and believe it was inspired by the September 11 attacks in the United States.

The aircraft carried 174 people and later made an emergency landing in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia, after passengers, crew members and two reserve pilots helped restrain the co-pilot and take control of the jet. Flight-tracking data showed the plane plunged rapidly before stabilizing. The captain, identified in the report as Smit Machchhar, was seriously wounded in the cockpit assault and both pilots were later hospitalized.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the suspect admitted he acted alone and described preparing psychologically and physically for the attack by viewing material promoting terrorism and taking boxing lessons. Investigators also said he had flown the Tel Aviv route before to familiarize himself with the airport and flight path. The report says he had met Flydubai’s professional and security checks, and that investigators found no earlier signs in the recruitment process of extremist views.

Al Jazeera, citing Reuters and AP, said the suspect has not been officially named by UAE authorities, though people familiar with the case identified him as an Omani national. The case is being presented by prosecutors as one of the most detailed accounts yet of the alleged motive and planning behind the incident.