UAE terms flydubai attack a terrorist act
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has termed the mid-air attack aboard a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv as a terrorist act and praised Indian captain Smit Machchhar, who was stabbed while helping avert a potential disaster involving more than 170 passengers.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said on Friday that Machchhar was a hero and deserved “every appreciation, for in confronting a serious terrorist act and a potential disaster, he embodied the true meaning of courage and responsibility.”
According to a preliminary investigation in Saudi Arabia, an altercation broke out in the cockpit and the co-pilot assaulted Machchhar, who was eventually stabbed. Despite his injuries, he managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to overpower the attacker. The aircraft lost significant altitude before diverting and landing safely.
Israel’s Consul General in Mumbai, Yaniv Revach, expressed Israel’s “deepest gratitude” and said the country wished to honour Captain Machchhar’s “exceptional behaviour.”
Investigators are examining the sequence of events with the help of the aircraft’s voice and data recorders. Bloomberg reported that the two pilots were moved to the UAE for further questioning after medical clearance. A State-run Saudi Press Agency reported that both pilots departed Saudi Arabia for Abu Dhabi on Thursday, October 1, accompanied by a UAE security team.
The incident has also renewed questions over cockpit security and pilot mental-health screening, with experts saying airlines may need to review checks and procedures to reduce the risk of a similar attack.
Co-pilot planned crash: Netanyahu
New Delhi: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the co-pilot accused of attacking the captain of a flydubai flight underwent radicalisation and wanted to bring the aircraft down with everyone on board.
“As time passes, the picture becomes clearer: the perpetrator underwent Islamist radicalisation. He came to smash the plane with its passengers on board,” Netanyahu said. “We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price.”
The comments follow the incident aboard flydubai flight FZ1073, which was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday with 174 people. The co-pilot allegedly stabbed Indian captain Smit Machchhar. The jet dropped nearly 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds before control was restored.
Wounded, Machchhar still managed to open the cockpit door.
Passengers and crew then entered and overpowered the attacker. Two off-duty flydubai pilots who were travelling on the flight helped fly the aircraft, which landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Netanyahu said earlier that the attacker was being questioned and that Israeli investigators had joined the interrogation. “The attacker, the co-pilot who attacked the captain, is now being interrogated. What we know so far is that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” he said.
He also said the early inquiry indicated the co-pilot was suicidal, describing him as lying on the floor and calling out to the crew to kill him. “It is clear that he was suicidal and was going to down the plane,” Netanyahu said.
Israel’s Consul General in Mumbai, Yaniv Revach, said, “I don’t think that it might be a terror attack. It is a terror attack. So there’s not even a question or a doubt about it.” The motive of the co-pilot has not been established.
Netanyahu has praised the captain and the passengers who stepped in. “I think what happened is a tremendous act of heroism that prevented another 9/11-style crash of an entire airplane,” he said.
