Flydubai co-pilot planned attack before airline hired him, Israeli officials say

The co-pilot of a flydubai flight that was attacked last week told UAE interrogators he planned the assault before being hired by the airline, according to two Israeli officials. The alleged attack was averted when passengers and crew subdued him. The co-pilot, an Omani national, allegedly intended to crash the flight into Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv. He had also operated a previous flight to Tel Aviv this year and planned to hijack it then, but changed his mind, possibly because he knew someone onboard. The pilot survived the attack and landed the plane in Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a review of foreign airlines flying to Israel, and an Australian counterterrorism unit is investigating the co-pilot's past enrollment at RMIT University.