The Omani co-pilot suspected of attempting to crash flydubai Flight FZ1073 to Tel Aviv held no second nationality, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing sources who had knowledge of the investigation.
Regarding the background of the Omani pilot, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that he had undergone Islamist radicalisation and was suicidal.
However, Israel’s transportation ministry told The Jerusalem Post earlier that under the airline’s operating agreement, flydubai pilots must be citizens of nations that have established diplomatic ties with Israel. “We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News. Netanyahu said that it is “too early” to determine the flydubai co-pilot’s connections to Iran. The pilot said the alleged attacker joined flydubai just eight months ago. “He prayed excessively throughout the day and refused to shake hands with women,” he added. The flight issued two distress warnings — one being a 7500 code, which signals a hijacking — before Captain Smit Machchhar, covered in his own blood, managed to draw on “the last moments of his energy” to click open the release on the cockpit door, Netanyahu’s office said.
