A pilot who stabbed his co-pilot and hijacked a FlyDubai plane before being subdued by hero passengers had undergone ‘Islamist radical indoctrination,’ Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested.
The Israeli premier said investigators had told him that the suspect in the hijacking of the flight between Dubai and Tel Aviv had undergone the transformation on Thursday.
The flight plunged more than 17,000ft on Wednesday before the stabbed co-pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, managed to allow passengers and crew into the cockpit – after which they subdued the man.
Mr Netanyahu told Fox News that it was very likely the attacker, an Omani national, was going to try to bring down the plane.
The FlyDubai flight had 174 people aboard during the attempted hijacking
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) state news agency reports investigations have begun there to determine “whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose”.
Some have suggested the attack was related to the ongoing war between Israeli-US forces and Iran.
The Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia – where the plane made an emergency landing – said that both the pilot and co-pilot had been sent back to the UAE on Thursday morning.
UAE officials claimed jurisdiction over the incident due to the fact that the aircraft flies under its flag – and is registered there.
Netanyahu told Fox that the heroic passengers tied up and subdued the attacker, after which he called out to the aircrew “kill me, kill me”.
He added “And with all the passengers in there, and if you couple that with what I just told you about the Islamist tendencies, that radicalisation that were found in his background, I think… that’ll give us a pretty good clue.”
The new details come after it was revealed that the Captian Machchhar was stabbed in the head and had his arm “split into two” during the savage knifing.
The Indian nation was attacked by his co-pilot on the flight headed for Tel Aviv from Dubai in an attempted hijacking on Wednesday.
Israel has suggested the plot was part of a 9/11-style plot to crash the flight and kill all those aboard.
Video footage emerged showing the moment a group of passengers took control of the Flydubai jet, which showed two men, believed to be the pilot and co-pilot, covered in blood.
