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Back|UAE prosecutor launches investigation into cockpit fight on Flydubai flight
UAE prosecutor launches investigation into cockpit fight on Flydubai flight
BREAKING
Al Jazeera·46 minutes ago·Crime·2 min read

UAE prosecutor launches investigation into cockpit fight on Flydubai flight

Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi forms team to probe midair altercation on Israel-bound flight diverted to Saudi Arabia

Quick Look

  • UAE prosecutors are investigating a midair fight between pilots on a Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv that forced an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
  • The incident, involving an alleged stabbing, is being probed for potential terrorist links.

AI-generated summary

Why It Matters

Flydubai flight FZ1073 was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after an altercation between pilots. The UAE has asserted legal jurisdiction over the incident.

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The United Arab Emirates’ chief prosecutor has launched an investigation into the cockpit fight on board a Flydubai flight to Israel, which forced the plane to be diverted and land in Saudi Arabia.

Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi has formed a team of public prosecutors to investigate the midair altercation between the two pilots on board Flydubai flight FZ1073, Emirati state news agency WAM reported on Thursday.

The flight was travelling from Dubai International Airport to Tel Aviv on Wednesday before being diverted and landing safely at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia.

Investigators will examine the circumstances and motives behind the incident, and whether it was linked to any “terrorist activity or intent” or involved prior planning or direction, WAM reported.

Al Shamsi said UAE judicial authorities have jurisdiction over the incident because the aircraft is registered in the UAE and flies under its flag, adding that UAE law applies to crimes committed on board “even if they occur outside the country’s territory”.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke with the UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who agreed that Israel would “join the interrogation” of the suspect.

Netanyahu has credited the Flydubai pilot, Indian national Smit Machchhar, as well as passengers, with averting catastrophe, after a co-pilot allegedly stabbed him and tried to crash the plane.

Israeli passengers on the aircraft carrying 174 people described how the injured Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door to let them in before they wrestled with the co-pilot and stabilised the plane during a descent so sharp that the rudder of the jet was ripped off.

“We felt helpless, suspended in midair, and I didn’t know who to turn to. But it was all instinct to survive,” one of the responders, Asaf Rajuan, said in a new statement shared by Israel’s presidency.

Israel’s foreign ministry said the people on board were from Israel, India and the UAE. The US State Department said four passengers had US citizenship.

Flydubai has said its flights to and from Israel would be suspended.

What to Watch

AI outlook — possibilities, not facts

  • UAE authorities will conduct a formal interrogation of the suspect.

    Very likely · Within weeks

Open Questions

  • ?What was the specific motive of the co-pilot?
  • ?Are there confirmed links to terrorist organizations?

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This article was originally published by Al Jazeera.

Quick Look

  • UAE prosecutors are investigating a midair fight between pilots on a Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv that forced an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
  • The incident, involving an alleged stabbing, is being probed for potential terrorist links.

AI-generated summary

Story signals

News tone
Sensitive
Emotional intensity
High
News value
High
Urgency
Breaking
Follow-up likelihood
Certain
Relevance window
Weeks

Source & Reliability

Source
Al Jazeera
Story type
Hard news
Source quality
Full
Published
46 minutes ago

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