Israel had received the crew list of the Flydubai flight; Netanyahu praises commander

Israel had received in advance the list of crew members of the Flydubai flight, bound for Tel Aviv, and which was attempted to be hijacked by the Omani co-pilot. The newspaper Haaretz reports this detail, citing security sources. The list, which included nationalities and names of crew members, had been received by the Israeli Tax Authority 48 hours before the flight and was supposed to be verified by the relevant bodies, including the Mossad and the Ministry of Transport. The Tax Authority confirmed having received the data, while the Ministry of Transport gave conflicting versions on the receipt and control of the list.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, invited the Indian captain of the flight to Israel as a guest of honour, who prevented the plane from crashing after being attacked by the co-pilot. “You are a true hero of the brave people of India and Israel and you are a hero of the whole world,” Netanyahu said, addressing commander Smit Machchhar, in a phone call broadcast by video from his office. The pilot reportedly opened the cockpit door after the co-pilot assaulted him, allowing passengers on board to intervene and secure the plane.

The co-pilot's attack with the emergency axe

And details continue to emerge about what happened. The co-pilot used the emergency ax (mandatory) supplied with the cockpit to attack his colleague. Investigations carried out in Saudi Arabia, where the flight made an emergency landing, found that the co-pilot "had begun to carry out a terrorist act". The investigation now continues "to clarify all the circumstances of the accident and the related reasons", the investigators added. The prosecutor did not disclose the nationality of the co-pilot - currently in custody in the United Arab Emirates - but various international media have reported that he is 29-year-old Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani father and a Syrian mother, with several years of life spent in the Emirates. The pilot had been banned from flying planes for safety reasons by Omani authorities, who believed he had been influenced by radical Islamist groups during a stay in Syria. There are still several unanswered questions, for example how al-Hammami could have boarded the plane despite the ban on pilots from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, such as Oman, from operating direct flights to Israel.