One day after a FlyDubai co-pilot made a violent attempt to crash the passenger aircraft and was subdued by passengers and other crew members, questions about his identity and motive continued to swirl Thursday. The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was approaching Israel when the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the flight captain and attempted to crash the aircraft, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. The captain was able to fight off the co-pilot long enough to unlock the cockpit door.
Passengers then overpowered the co-pilot, and two off-duty pilots who were on the flight managed to gain control of the aircraft and make an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. There were 174 people aboard the plane. No passengers were seriously injured in the incident.
The pilot sustained stab wounds in the attack. Saudi authorities said two crew members were hospitalized with unspecified injuries, and the co-pilot remained in custody on Thursday. The co-pilot of the flight has not yet been publicly identified.
An Omani official confirmed to CBS News that the attacker was born in Oman and currently holds Omani citizenship, but the Omani government has not publicly confirmed his nationality. The co-pilot's motive in the alleged attack remains unknown. Netanyahu speculated to CBS News on Wednesday that the incident looked "like a suicide attempt," referring to witnesses who said the co-pilot had tried to jam the plane's equipment instead of stabilizing the aircraft.
After passengers subdued the co-pilot, he shouted for someone to kill him, Netanyahu told Fox News on Thursday. In the same interview with Fox, Netanyahu said "personal information" gathered during ongoing questioning had led Israel to the conclusion that the co-pilot "underwent Islamist radical indoctrination." He did not offer more information. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday called the incident "an attempted jihadist terror attack," and referred to the co-pilot as a "terrorist." An Israeli security official told CBS News that authorities were investigating the possibility the incident could have been an attempted Sept. 11-style terror attack, and whether the attacker was working alone.
Netanyahu has warned in recent days of unspecified, escalating security threats to Israel and its interests amid its ongoing operations against Iran-allied Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The co-pilot was placed under arrest immediately. He was "being questioned by the Saudi authorities" on Wednesday, Netanyahu said.
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