UAE Prosecutor General: Flydubai Co-Pilot Planned Terrorist Attack, With Israeli Involvement in Investigation

The UAE's prosecutor general classified the assault that took place aboard a flydubai aircraft as a terrorist operation that the co-pilot had been planning to carry out, according to a report by the BBC's Arabic service.

According to international media reports, the co-pilot, an Omani national, had been barred from flying in his home country before the incident, over suspicions that he held extremist views. The reports indicated that Omani authorities had barred him from piloting aircraft for security reasons, as he is believed to have been influenced by extremist Islamist groups during an earlier trip to Syria.

UAE authorities have not disclosed the full details of the investigation or the legal proceedings expected against the suspect, but classifying the incident as a terrorist operation opens the door to a broader investigation that, according to the report, includes Israeli involvement.

The precise motive behind the alleged attack has not yet been clarified, and no comment has so far been issued by flydubai or Omani authorities regarding the co-pilot's full background or the circumstances of his earlier flying ban.

The incident comes in a security-sensitive context given the nature of the flight route and its destination, which has prompted talk of international coordination in the investigation that goes beyond the scope of a typical local inquiry.