The perpetrator purposefully sought employment at the airline to attack Israel
The second pilot of flydubai confirmed during interrogation that he intended to crash a passenger plane into an Israeli airport. The terrorist act was thwarted after passengers neutralized the attacker in the cockpit. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine (Валерій Ульяненко) citing Reuters, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
During interrogations in the United Arab Emirates, the pilot confessed that he had chosen Ben Gurion Airport, located near Tel Aviv, as the target for his attack. According to available information, the plan emerged before the man began working for the air carrier. To this end, he deliberately sought employment with companies operating flights to Israel.
Details of the attack preparation
The investigation established that the perpetrator had already attempted to implement the criminal plan during a flight to Tel Aviv earlier this year. At that time, he abandoned his actions during the final stage of the flight. According to investigators, the decision to call off the attack might have been caused by the presence of someone he knew on board.
Emergency situation during the flight
On September 30, the airliner departing from Abu Dhabi signaled distress and later activated code 7500, which indicates the hijacking of an aircraft. Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the plane, after which it was diverted to the Saudi city of Tabuk.
Reaction to the incident
Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz classified the pilot’s actions as a terrorist act. Currently, the airline has suspended all flights to and from Israel for the duration of an official investigation into the attempted crash.
Photo: RBC-Ukraine
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