Attack on flydubai flight: Omani co-pilot tried to crash the plane by attacking the captain

flydubai flight: Who was the co-pilot who attacked the Smit Mosquito?

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According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the flydubai pilot who tried to crash a Boeing 737 airliner carrying 174 passengers, mostly Israelis, was an Omani citizen.

This raises the question as to how he got permission to fly the plane despite the stringent security check process.

After the co-pilot's nationality is revealed, pressure may increase on the airline and security agencies to explain how he boarded the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv despite Oman and Israel not having diplomatic relations. There are also restrictions on the movement of citizens of both the countries to each other's countries.

Netanyahu gave this information in an interview with Fox News on Thursday.

This was an interview a day after the incident took place. The prime minister said the attacker was inspired by radical Islamic ideology, but cautioned that it was too early to say whether he had any ties to Iran.

"We have some restrictions on pilots from countries with which we don't have diplomatic relations. So apparently he was able to go through these processes. So there is a loophole here. We have to find a way to make sure that we can pre-screen the pilots," Netanyahu said in the interview.

President Donald Trump said that the US is investigating whether the Flydubai pilot has any ties to Iran.

"We're working on it right now," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday. "Based on what I'm hearing, I would say the answer is yes, but we're working on it right now."

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The airline or the UAE government have not yet announced the nationality or identity of the pilot. Netanyahu had earlier identified the second pilot as an Indian. This same pilot was attacked and was seriously injured.

The government of Oman has also not commented on this yet.

What did Saudi Arabia say?

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Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the injured Omani pilot, Captain Smit Mochhar, has been flown to the United Arab Emirates.

According to an official of Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry, the two people, who were hospitalized after the plane landed in Tabuk, were declared fit to travel by doctors after treatment. After this he was sent to UAE with the Emirati security team.

Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said on Thursday that a preliminary investigation into the diverted Dubai-Tel Aviv flydubai flight indicated that the co-pilot had attacked the pilot.

The ministry said that the plane landed at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia at 9:45 am local time on Wednesday, September 30. There were 174 passengers and 8 crew members on board the plane.

An official source in the Saudi Interior Ministry said that a preliminary investigation conducted by Saudi authorities in coordination with a UAE security team revealed that there was an altercation on board the plane, in which the co-pilot attacked the captain. Both were injured in this incident.

"The initial investigation, conducted with the participation of relevant authorities in the Kingdom and the UAE security team, indicated that the first officer assaulted the aircraft captain," the ministry said.

Authorities in the UAE are investigating whether this incident was related to any terrorist activity or motive or whether there was any pre-planning or instructions from someone involved. The Attorney General of UAE gave this information.

Israeli passenger Yaniv Hayun was among those who allegedly subdued the Omani co-pilot who was trying to crash flydubai flight FZ1073.

Hayoon said that when the attacker was tied up and subdued and realized that his attempt had failed, he said, "Kill me."

What did the people on the plane say?

Several Israeli passengers met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told how they saved the plane.

In a video clip released by the government press office, Dr. Shota Musaev told how he treated the injured captain. He said the Israeli passengers initially used headphone cords to restrain the co-pilot, "to ensure that he could not do anything out of control."

"He screamed in English, 'Kill me, kill me,'" Hayoon interjected.

"This meant that he had failed in his mission and now wanted to die," Hayun said.

Netanyahu had also mentioned this incident earlier in an interview given to Fox News. He said the Omani co-pilot was influenced by radical Islamic ideology and quoted the attacker as saying, "Kill me, kill me."

How did such a huge security lapse occur?

American media outlet Wall Street Journal wrote in a report, "The flydubai pilot who attacked his captain and forced the plane to descend rapidly, managed to penetrate one of the world's most stringent aviation security systems." The question is how?

This air route connecting UAE and Israel is one of the most sensitive routes in the world. The Middle East has a long history of hijackings and other attacks on passenger planes.

To prevent such attacks, both the countries have the world's most advanced surveillance technology and capable intelligence networks. Additionally, aviation regulations have been repeatedly tightened following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the deliberate crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 in the French Alps.

According to the Journal, 'Despite this, on Wednesday a pilot managed to conceal his intentions, gain access to a knife and bring the plane carrying about 170 people on board down such a steep slope that the plane almost broke up in the air.'

Michael Horowitz, a security and geopolitical analyst who has written a book on Israel's future and its position in the Middle East, told the WSJ, "This is 100 percent a major security failure. The question is how widespread and how serious is this failure."

This incident may impact Israel's air connectivity with the world and the UAE's aviation and tourism business prospects. Flydubai suspended its flights to Israel while the investigation continues. Many international airlines had already suspended flights to both the UAE and Israel for several months due to the risks associated with the Iran war.

Aviation security company Osprey Flight Solutions said in a report that if proven to be a terrorist attack, "it would be the most significant terrorist plot targeting a commercial passenger airliner in recent years."

In the September 11, 2001 attacks, hijackers captured planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. After these attacks, major changes were made in the rules related to international air travel. One important change was the introduction of reinforced cockpit doors to keep out intruders.

However, these rules were primarily focused on protecting aircraft from threats from passengers, not from pilots or crew members who might pose a threat from within the aircraft.

After the Germanwings plane crash in 2015, some aviation regulators made it mandatory for two crew members to be present in the cockpit at all times. In this accident, the First Officer, after being alone in the cockpit, took control of the aircraft and deliberately crashed it in the French Alps.

Everyone on board the plane died. The pilot who crashed the plane had undergone psychological treatment for suicidal tendencies and the aviation industry has since been trying to deal with the risks associated with mental health.

Generally, pilots have to undergo medical examination at least once a year. However, their license may be suspended if they have certain mental health diagnoses or are taking such medications. This has raised concerns that aviators may hide their symptoms and avoid seeking help.

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