The co-pilot of a diverted "Flydubai" plane attacked the first person with an axe from the emergency equipment and tried to take control of the machine, the United Arab Emirates prosecutor's office reported, quoted by UAM, writes BTA.
The UAE authorities are treating what happened on Wednesday as a suspected attempted terrorist attack. The Israeli government has previously described him as such, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the co-pilot was influenced by Islamist ideology.
Axes are part of the mandatory equipment of aircraft and can be used in emergencies to break or cut through cladding or other obstacles.
The investigation in the UAE is ongoing. Authorities are trying to establish the motives of the co-pilot and whether he had connections to other individuals or organizations.
Flight FZ1073 of the UAE-based airline "flydubai" was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the co-pilot attacked the first pilot. In the incident, the plane began to lose altitude sharply. The captain, an Indian citizen, was seriously injured but managed to open the cockpit door. This allowed passengers and crew members to neutralize the attacker and help control the situation. The plane subsequently made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, DPA added.
The second pilot, who according to Israeli sources is an Omani citizen, was taken to the UAE.
The Saudi television “Al Arabiya“, the American television channels CNN and ABC, as well as the newspaper “Wall Street Journal“ today reported that the Omani co-pilot who attacked his commander with a knife on board a Flydubai airliner was banned from flying by authorities in his country who suspected him of radicalization, Agence France-Presse reported.
According to the publications of the co-pilot, whose father is Omani and his mother is Syrian, was banned from flying planes for security reasons by Omani authorities who believed he had been influenced by radical Islamist groups during his stay in Syria.
The same media noted that the attacker, whose name is Hammam al-Hamami, joined Flydubai after leaving his previous employer Oman Air. and has applied unsuccessfully for a job with the United Arab Emirates airline - “Emirates“.
The incident occurred on September 30 on board a plane flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv in Israel. During the flight, the co-pilot stabbed the Indian captain of the plane, who nevertheless managed to open the cockpit door, which allowed passengers and crew members to neutralize the attacker. The plane, which plummeted during the incident, managed to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
The exact circumstances surrounding the attack, as well as the attacker's motives, which are still unclear, are being investigated by authorities in the UAE, where the two pilots were transferred.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the attacker had “undergone Islamist radicalization“ and "intended to crash the plane with the passengers."