flydubai copilot admits plan to crash plane into Israeli airport

rbc.ua (Ukrainian) —

A second pilot for flydubai confessed to planning to crash a passenger plane into an airport in Israel during an attempted hijacking last week, according to Reuters. The man admitted the intention during interrogation in the UAE. The pilot said he aimed to crash the aircraft into Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. The plan was formed before he joined flydubai, and he deliberately sought work with airlines flying regular routes to Israel, having previously flown to Tel Aviv this year with the same intention before backing out. The September 30 flight from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia after hijack codes were activated, with Israeli fighter jets scrambled. Passengers subdued the Omani pilot, and flydubai has suspended Israel flights pending investigation.


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