Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that investigators are examining whether the Flydubai co-pilot suspected of trying to crash a Tel Aviv-bound flight was acting on instructions from another party, warning that anyone behind the alleged attack would “pay a very heavy price.”
“As time passes, the picture is becoming clearer,” Netanyahu said. “Yaniv and his heroic friends prevented a disaster on the scale of September 11. The attacker underwent Islamist radicalization. He came to crash the plane with its passengers on board. We are now investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price.”
Netanyahu: if Flydubai pilot acted on orders, those behind him will pay dearly
(Photo: Shalev Shalom, AP, Jack GUEZ / AFP)
Earlier Friday, Anwar Gargash, adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, described Wednesday’s attempted crash as a “terrorist act,” the first time an Emirati official had publicly defined the incident as terrorism. Praising Capt. Smit Machchhar, Gargash said the pilot had shown “the true meaning of courage and responsibility” in preventing a potential disaster, while urging caution against speculation and conspiracy theories. Defense Minister Israel Katz had already called the incident an “attempted jihadist terror attack” on Wednesday. Netanyahu said Thursday that investigators were also looking into whether Iran had any connection to the attack, stressing that it was still too early to reach a conclusion.
The investigation moved to the UAE on Thursday after Machchhar and the suspected Omani co-pilot were transferred there from Saudi Arabia, where the aircraft made its emergency landing. Israel had asked to participate as an observer in questioning the suspect in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but Riyadh rejected the request. Israeli officials are now hoping their close cooperation with Abu Dhabi will allow them to be involved in the investigation.
Machchhar appeared publicly for the first time Friday from his hospital bed and spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He recalled realizing the aircraft was plunging after he was injured in the cockpit. “When I fell, I felt the aircraft going down, the nose dropping, and I knew these were the final seconds,” he said. “I tried to crawl. I opened the door, and everyone else came immediately afterward.” He added: “I realized that if I did not show courage, 170 passengers would lose their lives.” Modi praised his courage and composure, while Machchhar, visibly emotional, told him: “You are my idol. I never thought I would have the opportunity to speak with you.”