Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash hijacked plane into Tel Aviv airport terminal, Israeli media reports
Quick Look
- The co-pilot of a Flydubai flight told interrogators he planned to hijack the aircraft and crash it into Ben Gurion Airport's terminal in Tel Aviv, Israeli Channel 12 reported, citing unnamed sources.
- He allegedly attacked the Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, over Jordan before the captain thwarted the plot by opening the cockpit door despite his injuries.
- The flight made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on September 30 after the stabbing incident.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
On September 30, a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing at Saudi Arabia's Tabuk Airport following a security incident. On October 1, the Saudi Ministry of the Interior confirmed the incident was caused by the stabbing of the flight captain by his co-pilot.
TEL AVIV, October 4. /TASS/. The co-pilot of the Flydubai flight said during the interrogation that he had planned to direct the hijacked aircraft to Tel Aviv and steer it into Ben Gurion Airport’s terminal, Israeli Channel 12 reported, citing unnamed sources.
According to the television channel, he said this, explaining why he had attacked the aircraft’s captain, Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, when the plane was flying over Jordan near Israel’s border. The co-pilot he said he had planned to approach to land in Israel "routinely," and at the very last moment, when it would have been impossible to intercept the aircraft, to divert it and crash it into the terminal. It was only thanks to the actions of Machchar, who, despite his injuries, managed to open the cockpit door, that the co-pilot’s plan was thwarted, the television channel noted.
On September 30, a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing at Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk Airport following a security incident. On October 1, the Saudi Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the incident was caused by the stabbing of the flight captain by his co-pilot which left the two of them with injuries of varying severity.
Both pilots departed for Abu Dhabi with an Emirati security escort once their condition had stabilized, while the other six crew members had earlier safely returned to Dubai, the Saudi ministry specified. The UAE continues to look into the reasons and circumstances behind the incident, including operational aspects of it and safety measures.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
UAE authorities will release findings on operational and safety aspects of the incident
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What was the co-pilot's motive for planning the attack?
- Was the co-pilot acting alone or with any external support?
- What safety or procedural failures allowed the co-pilot to access the cockpit?
- What are the findings of the UAE's ongoing investigation into operational and safety aspects?
