Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A FlyDubai co-pilot accused of trying to crash a Tel Aviv-bound flight carrying 182 people had earlier been barred from flying by Oman, his home country, over concerns that he had adopted extremist views, according to a person familiar with the matter. The co-pilot was later hired by the UAE-based airline, the person said on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
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The incident has pushed the region’s travel industry into crisis, raised fresh questions about aviation security and added to tensions in a Middle East already unsettled by the US-Iran war. A regional investigation is under way, while the UAE has cancelled all flights to Israel and both countries have begun repatriation flights for stranded passengers.
It was not immediately clear how thoroughly the co-pilot was vetted when he was hired in the UAE. Oman’s decision to bar him from flying was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Israeli investigators are involved in the inquiry, but Emirati authorities are leading it, according to an official who was not authorised to speak to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said it was unclear whether the attacker was part of a group and added that there is currently no evidence of a link with Iran.
US President Donald Trump told reporters that early information he had received suggested links between the attack and Tehran, but he did not elaborate. He also said that if it is determined that Iranian agents were behind the attack, the United States will “hit them very hard”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radicalization”, but offered no evidence. “We are now investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price,” Netanyahu said in a video message on Friday.
UAE senior diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash on Friday described the FlyDubai incident as a “dangerous terrorist act” in a post on X and credited the flight captain with preventing a catastrophe. Jon Alterman, chair of Global Security and Geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said, “The Emiratis are going to be interested in protecting their reputation. They believe people should see them as a place that’s very secure, not a place that has serious lapses.”
The UAE and Israel agreed on repatriation flights beginning Friday to bring back passengers stranded after commercial services between the two countries were suspended, according to an Israeli official who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The first repatriation flight left the UAE shortly before 11 pm and landed in Tel Aviv just after 1 am, according to the Ben Gurion International Airport website. The airport also listed Arkia and Israir flights from Dubai early on Saturday, while El Al was expected to fly passengers from Dubai to Israel on Sunday. Dubai has been a popular destination for Israelis since Israel and the UAE established ties in 2020 under the Abraham Accords.
More details have also emerged about the flight itself, which other crew members landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday. Captain Smit Machchhar, who was injured and has since been praised for his role, and the co-pilot were transferred from Saudi Arabia to the UAE on Thursday, the kingdom said. Machchhar is recovering in a hospital in Abu Dhabi. In a televised video call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, he described what happened inside the cockpit. “I had so many wounds. I had fallen down,” he said, his head bandaged, before breaking into sobs. “I was fighting for my life. At one point, I realized that if I didn’t get up then passengers would lose their lives.”
The first sign of trouble came more than two hours into the flight, when the aircraft suddenly dropped to 16,600 feet, the sharpest altitude fall recorded by flight tracking platforms. Passenger Daniel Schlichter, who was seated in the second row, said those near the front had heard sounds of a fight inside the cockpit moments before the nosedive. Seconds later, the aircraft climbed to 21,725 feet before dropping again to 15,000 feet, where it remained until it landed safely more than an hour later. The investigation now centres on how the co-pilot came to be on the flight, the attack inside the cockpit and the wider security questions raised by the incident.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
