Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said the Omani co-pilot who stabbed the pilot-in-command on a flydubai flight was “radicalised”, adding that a “loophole” in screening had allowed him to fly the aircraft to Tel Aviv.
Flight FZ1073, carrying 174 passengers, was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain, following which the Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunged nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds. The pilot-in-command, however, was able to unlock the cockpit door, following which passengers restrained the co-pilot and one among the second set of pilots onboard took control of the aircraft.
The Israeli PM, in an exclusive interview with Fox & Friends, also said that it would be known “within a matter of days” whether the co-pilot has any connections to Iran, while cautioning that it was “too early” to draw conclusions.
Deep Dive
What evidence supports the claim that the flydubai co-pilot underwent Islamist radical indoctrination?
What loophole allowed the Omani co-pilot to operate the flydubai flight to Israel?
Why is it important that multiple pilots were present on the flydubai flight FZ1073?
‘Islamist radical indoctrination’, ‘pilots’ background check’: What Netanyahu said
Netanyahu said that preliminary inquiry and investigation had revealed that the Omani co-pilot underwent a “radical indoctrination.”
{{/usCountry}}Netanyahu said that preliminary inquiry and investigation had revealed that the Omani co-pilot underwent a “radical indoctrination.”
{{/usCountry}}“And as, you know, the attacker, the copilot who attacked the captain, is now being interrogated, but here's what we do know: First, we know that, he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” the Israeli PM told Fox. “That appears to be something we're gathering from the information – his personal information,” he added.
Netanyahu further said that the co-pilot had passed a “loophole” in rules prohibiting pilots from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel from flying planes to the country. “Well, he was an Omani national and we have constraints that say you can't have pilots from countries that don't have diplomatic relations with Israel…So obviously he was able to go through that. So there's a loophole there: How to make sure that we screened pilots in advance,” the Israeli PM told Fox.
He said that pre-screening had been done for pilots who had flown the passengers aboard flight FZ1073 from Saudi Arabia to Israel. “We checked their background, but obviously there was a loophole here, and we're taking care of that, among other things,” Netanyahu said.
'We'll be able to say in matter of days': Netanyahu on whether co-pilot had connection with Iran
Netanyahu said that it was “too early” to draw conclusions on whether the co-pilot had any connections with Iran, but added that this would be known “definitively…within a matter of days.”
“We're looking into that, so I can't draw conclusions yet…” Netanyahu said. “I think it's too early to say whether he had any connections with Iran or with anyone else…It's too early to say that, but we'll be able to say that very definitely – I think very fairly definitively, not fairly – I think we'll be able to say definitively within a matter of days,” the Israeli PM told Fox & Friends.