The co-pilot accused of stabbing the captain and attempting to seize control of Flydubai Flight FZ1073 was identified as an Omani national — a fact that has raised immediate questions about how he was permitted to serve as a pilot on a flight bound for Israel in the first place.
Israel and Oman do not have diplomatic relations. According to Israeli officials, pilots operating flights into the country are required to hold passports from countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, per the aviation agreement governing Flydubai’s service to Israel.
If the suspect was indeed flying under an Omani passport, his presence in the cockpit appears to have violated the rules governing the airline’s operation in Israel. Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev has called for an investigation into whether the United Arab Emirates violated its aviation agreement with Israel.
“This is a clear breach of the agreement,” the Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev said on Wednesday. Israeli authorities are now investigating precisely how an Omani pilot was assigned to the flight. A joint probe involving the Mossad, Shin Bet, Israel Defense Forces, and the Transportation Ministry is examining whether there were warning signs before the attack and how the pilot was cleared to fly the aircraft.
“How is it possible for a guy of this nationality to fly the aircraft?” asked former Mossad counterterrorism official Oded Ailam, according to the Washington Post. One possibility under examination, he said, is that the pilot possessed a second passport, although that has not been established.
Flight 1073 was carrying 174 people, including 27 children, from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the Omani co-pilot allegedly attacked Indian Captain Smit Machchhar. The aircraft plunged thousands of feet as passengers fought their way into the cockpit and subdued the attacker. Machchhar, despite being seriously wounded, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and two off-duty pilots aboard the aircraft to intervene.
The plane ultimately made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the suspect underwent radical Islamist indoctrination, while an anonymous colleague separately described him as unusually religious and said he frequently prayed and refused to shake hands with women. The motive remains under investigation, and authorities have not publicly established whether he acted as part of a larger organization.
Israel suspended Flydubai flights to and from the country while authorities investigate, and Israeli officials have said pilot identities and security checks will receive increased scrutiny.
Doron Spielman, a spokesman for Netanyahu’s office, said Israel would now seek to know the identity of pilots flying into the country and conduct higher levels of security screening.
“Anywhere that an Israeli is going to be flying into Israel, our job right now is to do our best — even if they’re not on Israeli airlines — to make sure that those security procedures are much higher,” Spielman said.
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