Yaniv Hayoun arrived at the arrivals gate at Ben Gurion international airport in Israel on Wednesday, marking his welcome to the country. Tali Manes heard heavy impacts against the cockpit door during a flydubai flight travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv around 9:30 on Wednesday morning local time.
During a struggle inside the cockpit, the co-pilot possessed a sharp weapon. The aircraft subsequently lost 16,000ft of altitude over approximately one minute as it entered a steep dive.
Two off-duty pilots assumed control of the aircraft, guiding it to a landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, ninety minutes later. Regional sources indicated the co-pilot, who attacked Smit Machchhar, was an Omani national who joined flydubai between five and nine months ago, though his identity remains unknown.
Arik Arad stated that the co-pilot constitutes a terrorist who attempted either to hijack the plane or to end his life. Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the co-pilot was exposed to “Islamist radical indoctrination” and that Israeli investigators found evidence on social media accounts suggesting he wished to “kill Jews”.
Netanyahu further told Fox News that the attacker called out to the aircrew: ‘Kill me, kill me,’ and that it was “clear he was suicidal”. Colin Clarke suggested that the most probable explanation for the co-pilot’s motivation is likely terrorism.
Hamad Saif al-Shamsi, representing the UAE, ordered investigators to “collect information and evidence to determine the truth of the incident, its circumstances, details and motives, and to verify the extent of its connection to any terrorist activity or purpose, or the existence of prior planning or direction for it.” Arad also pointed out that the critical issue is the apparent insufficiency of pilot screening procedures.
