Co-Pilot Said to Have Planned to Crash Aircraft into Ben Gurion Airport Terminal

Dragon Media News Desk

The co-pilot of a flydubai aircraft reportedly told investigators that he had planned to take control of the plane and crash it into the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport, Israeli television channel 12 reported. The co-pilot made the claim while explaining his attack on Captain Smit Machchhar as the aircraft was flying over Jordan near the Israeli border, the channel said, citing unnamed sources.

According to the channel, the co-pilot planned to fly towards Israel under the pretext of making a routine landing and divert the aircraft towards the passenger terminal at the last moment, when it could no longer be stopped. The channel said Captain Machchhar thwarted the plan by managing to open the cockpit door despite his injuries.

On September 30, a flydubai aircraft travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia following a security incident. On October 1, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior confirmed that the co-pilot had stabbed the captain, leaving both injured.

The ministry said that after their condition stabilised, both pilots travelled to Abu Dhabi under the escort of a United Arab Emirates security team. The other six crew members had safely returned to Dubai. The UAE is investigating the cause and circumstances of the incident. The account of a plan to crash the aircraft into the passenger terminal is based on unnamed sources cited by the television channel.