New Details Emerge on 'Terror Attack' That Sent Dubai-Israel Flight Into Steep Dive
Israeli officials call the Flydubai cockpit stabbing a terror attack as accounts describe the pilot and passengers working to avert a crash, while Netanyahu says it's too early to say who was behind it.
Written by EGazette’s AI. The facts are drawn from cited sources; the analysis is the AI’s own.
New details have emerged about the attack aboard a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, with Israeli officials describing the episode as a "terror attack" even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it remains too early to determine who was ultimately behind it, according to The Guardian.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations called the incident a terror attack. Flydubai has suspended its flights to and from Israel while an investigation takes place.
Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian citizen from Mumbai, has been hailed as a hero after he released the cockpit door to let passengers in to help regain control of the aircraft, after his co-pilot -- reported to be an Omani national -- stabbed him and sent the plane plunging nearly 14,000 feet in under 30 seconds.
How the plane was stabilized
According to one passenger's account, two relief pilots who had been scheduled to operate a later flight entered the cockpit, pulled the aircraft's controls to stabilize it, and ultimately landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia.
US President Donald Trump, asked about the incident, said: "It seems as though the co-pilot was perhaps a terrorist, or perhaps a whack-job, and he stabbed the pilot."
Investigators have not yet confirmed a motive for the attack.
Sources
- First Thing: Details remain unclear after ‘terror attack’ on Dubai-Israel flight — The Guardian — World
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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