The Omani co-pilot accused of trying to crash a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv had previously been barred from flying in Oman over concerns about his radical ideological views, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, raising new questions over how he was later hired by the Emirati airline and assigned to one of its most sensitive routes.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal reported that Omani authorities had grounded the co-pilot because of concerns that he had become radicalized. Despite the ban, Flydubai later hired him and allowed him to operate flights between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
Footage shows the Indian pilot receiving treatment as the Omani co-pilot lies restrained
It remains unclear whether Oman shared those concerns with other governments or airlines, according to the report, and the precise nature of the co-pilot’s alleged radicalization has not been disclosed.
The investigation is now being conducted in the United Arab Emirates after the suspect was transferred there from Saudi Arabia. A source familiar with the matter said he is expected to be questioned by the UAE’s State Security Department, which reports directly to President Mohammed bin Zayed.
Israel hopes the transfer will allow closer cooperation with Emirati investigators. Jerusalem’s precise role remains unclear, but Israeli officials expect to receive regular updates from Abu Dhabi whether Israel participates directly in the investigation or observes it from the sidelines. Emirati authorities, however, are expected to keep any Israeli role relatively low-profile.
A UAE spokesperson declined to discuss the suspect’s history in Oman, saying authorities did not want to prejudge the investigation or interfere with it. Separately, US media reported that the co-pilot was cooperating with investigators and had said he intended to crash the aircraft in Israel.
The incident occurred Wednesday aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, carrying more than 170 people. The co-pilot attacked Indian captain Smit Machchhar inside the cockpit and attempted to bring the aircraft down.
Despite being wounded, Machchhar managed to unlock the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew members to intervene and overpower the co-pilot. Reserve pilots traveling aboard the aircraft then took control and landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
The flight plunged more than 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds during the incident, according to Flightradar24.
Israeli security officials currently believe the Omani co-pilot most likely acted alone, despite suggestions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that investigators were examining whether another party had directed or assisted him.
Two Israeli security officials told Reuters that no evidence of Iranian involvement had been identified so far and that the initial assessment was that the attacker had acted independently, though the investigation remains ongoing.
Netanyahu said in a video Friday that investigators were still examining the possibility of outside involvement.
“As time passes, the picture is becoming clearer,” he said. “The heroes prevented a disaster on the scale of September 11. The attacker underwent Islamist radicalization. He came to crash the plane with its passengers. We are now investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price.”
The damaged rear wing of the Flydubai plane
The new disclosure about the co-pilot’s previous grounding in Oman is also sharpening scrutiny over how he was cleared to serve aboard a flight to Israel.
Airlines are required to provide Israeli authorities with advance information about passengers and crew through Israel’s national passenger-data system. Crew records include identifying details, nationality and travel-document information and can be accessed, under legally defined authorities, by agencies including the Transportation Ministry, Shin Bet, Mossad and police.
Israeli officials initially examined whether the co-pilot may have held a second nationality that could explain how an Omani citizen was assigned to an Israel-bound flight. That possibility has since been ruled out, according to Israeli reports.
His identity and Omani nationality therefore appear to have been included in the crew information transmitted before the flight, leaving authorities to determine how he cleared the relevant screening mechanisms and which body, if any, should have flagged him before departure.
Several Israeli lawmakers, including Efrat Rayten, Ram Ben Barak, Chili Tropper and Oded Forer, have asked the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Boaz Bismuth, to convene an urgent hearing with the head of the Shin Bet over reports of earlier aviation-security warnings involving flights from the UAE.
They said the actions of passengers and crew had prevented a potentially catastrophic disaster and called for a review of aviation-security procedures and the decisions made before the flight.
Meanwhile, the first repatriation flight carrying Israelis stranded in Dubai landed in Israel on Friday after logistical disputes with Emirati authorities were resolved. Another Israir flight was expected to follow.
Flydubai has suspended all flights to Israel until further notice, extending its current suspension through October 15. Etihad Airways said it would operate two additional Abu Dhabi-Tel Aviv flights on Saturday to help return stranded passengers.