Three passengers who fell on him, zip ties and headphones as immobilization devices, and a pilot who was traveling as a simple passenger and ended up landing the aircraft. The unprecedented incident on the flydubai flight from Dubai to Israel has now shifted the focus of the investigation to the motive of the perpetrator , but also to an issue with clear political implications.
A colleague of the Omani co-pilot described him as a “religious extremist.” Speaking to Israel’s Channel 16, a pilot said the man had joined Flydubai just eight months ago. “He prayed excessively during the day and refused to shake hands with women,” he said.
Zvika Menes , one of the passengers who participated in the arrest of the perpetrator, spoke about how the events unfolded inside the aircraft. As she described to Israeli public television Kan , a pilot traveling as a passenger entered the cockpit when he heard voices.
“Then we saw the stabbings and we saw them coming out of the cockpit. It was a very difficult incident. Three of us fell on him and immobilized him,” he said. “Another pilot, who was sitting in the passenger cabin, came in to replace the other pilot and they basically landed the aircraft ,” he added. Asked how they managed to subdue him, he explained. “The three of us fell on him with force and tied him up with his own zip ties and headphones .”
In addition to the investigation into the incident itself, the fact that the co-pilot was a citizen of Oman , a country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, has raised serious questions with political and diplomatic implications in Israel. The investigation involves many agencies, including the Shin Bet , the Mossad , the army and the Ministry of Transport.
The most striking finding, however, came later. As revealed by Israel’s Channel 12 , it was found that dozens of Omani pilots have landed in Israel in recent years on Flydubai flights.
This information opens up an issue that goes far beyond the isolated incident. Questions are raised about how the airline’s crews were approved for flights to the country over the years, and in particular crew members who are nationals of countries without diplomatic relations with Israel.
Israeli authorities are now trying to determine how the pilots were granted permission, what identities of the crew members were disclosed in advance, and whether those who approved the flights knew that they were Omani nationals. At the same time, Flydubai’s own actions and the information it provided to Israeli authorities are being examined.
The investigation is expected to focus on whether the permits granted were in accordance with current procedures, but also on whether changes are required in the way foreign crews are screened and approved on flights to Israel.
The question, in essence, is twofold. It concerns both how a specific person ended up in the cockpit, and whether an entire control system had been operating for years with gaps that no one had identified before the worst happened.
