The co-pilot of a flydubai flight who attacked the captain has admitted during interrogation that he intended to steer the aircraft into a terminal at Ben Gurion Airport. This was reported by Israeli Channel 12 journalist Amit Segal, according to infohub.kz.
According to the journalist, the pilot from Oman planned a normal approach but intended to suddenly veer the plane into the terminal building in the final seconds. He calculated that intercepting the aircraft at that moment would no longer be possible.
For this reason, Segal claims, the attacker assaulted the captain only over Jordanian territory, when the airliner was near Israel.
The plan was thwarted, according to the journalist, thanks to the wounded Indian captain's decision to open the cockpit door at any cost.
Recall that on September 30, on flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, the co-pilot attacked the captain and tried to seize control of the aircraft. More than 170 passengers and crew members were on board.
Passengers and crew managed to subdue the attacker. A reserve pilot on board landed the plane at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The co-pilot was detained by Saudi authorities and later handed over to the United Arab Emirates.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that after the incident, flydubai temporarily suspended all flights between Dubai and Israel. The airline said it would resume flights after receiving additional information from the investigation.