Israel orders review after Flydubai cockpit attack

Israel’s National Security Council head has been instructed to appoint an examiner to review security arrangements for foreign civil aviation to Israel, after an Omani Flydubai co-pilot accused of attacking the captain on a September 30 flight was not flagged before departure. The case has raised unresolved questions about who was responsible for screening the crew and what Israeli authorities did with flight information shared by the United Arab Emirates. Regional officials said the UAE provided Israel with passenger and crew details, including names and nationalities, before Flydubai Flight FZ1073 travelled from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Israel’s Tax Authority confirmed receiving flight lists, according to reports, but that receipt does not establish that security officials reviewed or assessed the co-pilot. The officials’ account that no one was flagged was not an independent confirmation of how the screening process operated. The flight was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after the alleged cockpit attack.