On Thursday, US President Donald Trump claimed that the Omani co-pilot who stabbed Indian captain Smith Machchar aboard the flydubai plane Wednesday, intending to crash the aircraft, could be linked to Iran.
Authorities are investigating the motivation of the attacking co-pilot behind crashing the flydubai plane. The plane had 174 passengers on board, 170 of whom were Israelis.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz described the attack as "attempted jihadist terror attack." Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates, from where flydubai operates, said that they are investigating whether the incident was indeed a terror plot.
Also read: Who is Smit Machchhar? Hero Indian pilot who thwarted alleged flydubai flight crash attempt
Trump Suggests Iran Link In Flydubai Incident
Deep Dive
What led to the attack on Captain Smit Machchhar by the flydubai co-pilot?
How did Captain Machchhar manage to prevent a potential crash during the flydubai incident?
Why is there speculation about a link between the co-pilot and Iran in the flydubai incident?
Trump was asked by reporters Thursday about the flydubai incident. One reporter specifically asked the President what he thought about a potential Iran involvement in the attack. He had earlier said that the attack could be "a terrorist or perhaps a whack job".
"Has anybody briefed you on whether the FlyDubai pilot is linked to Iran?" the reporter asked Trump.
{{/usCountry}}"Has anybody briefed you on whether the FlyDubai pilot is linked to Iran?" the reporter asked Trump.
{{/usCountry}}“I would say the answer, based on what I'm hearing, is yes, but we're working on it right now,” Trump replied.
The Omani co-pilot attacked Smit Machchar when the Boeing 737 MAX was flying at an altitude of 36,000 feet. A cockpit confrontation followed in which Machchar opened the locked cockpit door. Passengers rushed in and subdued the attacking co-pilot.
One of the passengers, Yaniv Hayoun, was the first to rush into the cockpit. He said during a meeting with Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu that he initially took control of the place after overpowering the attacking pilot.
During the incident, the plane had plunged rapidly to an altitude of around 16,000 feet. From there, two on-duty pilots took control of the plane and landed it in Tabuk, in northeastern Saudi Arabia.
Also read: flydubai co-pilot was ‘religious extremist’, ‘refused to shake hands with women’, says colleague
Captain Smith Machchar Earns Praise Worldwide
Captain Smit Machchar, who worked with Indian carrier SpiceJet for 11 years, earned praise worldwide for the heroic act of opening the cockpit door on time, averting a major crash. Among those who paid tribute to Captain Machahar were Netanyahu and Trump.
"My salute to the Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary bravery," Netanyahu said in a X post Wedensday. “Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker — preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster.”
Trump, meanwhile, said Machchar was " in very bad shape... but he had the sense to, amazing, to, in a way he was a hero to open the door."