Netanyahu says flydubai co-pilot indoctrinated as UAE probes ‘terror’ link

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday the co-pilot behind an apparent attack on a flight to Israel had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination" as the United Arab Emirates said it was probing a possible terror link.

The dramatic events on Wednesday saw passengers reroute the flydubai plane to stop it from crashing, making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia before the flight's mostly Israeli passengers were flown home to a hero's welcome.

"We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination," Netanyahu told the "Fox & Friends" TV show without elaborating, adding that the co-pilot, reportedly an Omani national, was being interrogated.

The Israeli premier said "the attacker, he calls out to the aircrew, 'Kill me, kill me,'" making it "clear he was suicidal".

His comments about the alleged attacker, who the captain and passengers managed to overpower, came as the UAE chief prosecutor announced Thursday that an investigation had been launched, including the possibility of "terrorist activity or intent".

Netanyahu earlier credited the flydubai pilot, Indian national Smit Machchhar, as well as passengers with averting catastrophe, after a co-pilot allegedly stabbed him and tried to crash the plane.

Passengers described rushing the cockpit and a fight for control after the plane suddenly plummeted, losing around 17,000 feet of altitude in the span of a minute, according to the Flightradar24 website.

Israeli officials have called the incident "an attempted terrorist attack", though in an earlier interview with CBS News, Netanyahu had not ruled out the possibility that mental health was to blame.

Netanyahu said he expected the United Arab Emirates to take the lead in the investigation, but that Israel would join.

"He'll be, I assume, moved very quickly to Dubai," Netanyahu told CBS News of the alleged attacker, who was being questioned in Saudi Arabia.

Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, called it a "jihadist" attack, while Defence Minister Israel Katz also described the incident as "an attempted jihadist terror attack".

Airline flydubai has said all the passengers — of whom 166 out of 174 were Israeli, according to media reports — were safe, but that the reasons for the altercation were unknown.

"During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video message.

"I salute these heroes," he said of the passengers, adding "they prevented a major disaster".

He later hailed the wounded pilot, Machchhar, "for his extraordinary bravery", saying he prevented a "catastrophic mid-air disaster".

India's embassy in Saudi Arabia said Machchhar was being treated at a hospital in the country and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as a "HERO".

"His valour helped save hundreds of lives," Modi said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Thursday he would present "heroism" awards to five Israelis who helped overpower the co-pilot and prevented him from crashing the plane.

AFPTV images showed another flydubai plane carrying the passengers touch down at Tel Aviv airport, hours after their initial flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia's Tabuk.

Footage shared by Netanyahu's office showed the premier meeting passengers after their arrival in Tel Aviv and embracing a man in a bloodied shirt.

Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon described the plane as being "pretty much out of control" as the incident unfolded over Jordan.

"The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane," she told reporters by speakerphone held up by her mother at Ben Gurion Airport.

"It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralised him," she said.

The airline said it was another "on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight who diverted and landed the aircraft safely" and that it was suspending flights to Israel while an investigation took place.

The director general of Israel's foreign ministry called it "an attempted terrorist attack against Israelis, the United Arab Emirates, and the Abraham Accords", referring to the 2020 deal establishing formal ties between the two countries.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he had spoken with his UAE counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and agreed "to collaborate against extremist elements seeking to harm security and undermine stability".

US President Donald Trump, after discussing the incident with Netanyahu, said: "It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job."