UAE Says Flydubai Co-Pilot Planned Airport Attack

The United Arab Emirates attorney general said an Omani co-pilot planned to seize a Flydubai flight and crash it into the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport, but passengers and crew subdued him after he attacked the captain and the aircraft landed safely in Saudi Arabia. The alleged plot concerned a September 30 flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi said the co-pilot intended to cause the greatest possible loss of life. The claims about the target, preparation and motive come from the UAE prosecution’s investigation; investigators have not published a final account. According to al-Shamsi, the suspect was inspired by the September 11, 2001, attacks and had used two earlier flights to Tel Aviv to become familiar with the route and airport. Prosecutors also said his exposure to extremist material and online content glorifying terrorist organizations and suicide attacks began while he was studying in Australia. During the September 30 flight, the co-pilot attacked the captain in the cockpit with an emergency axe, the attorney general said. The captain resisted, and passengers and crew intervened to restrain the suspect.