UAE Launches Flydubai Hijacking and Terrorism Investigation - Tempo.co English

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United Arab Emirates' chief prosecutor's office said on Thursday that it had ordered an investigation into the apparent attempt to hijack and possibly crash a Flydubai flight to Israel a day earlier. 

The state news agency WAM said that "the investigation team has launched its work into the incident already" and that the probe would seek to determine "the degree to which [the incident] was linked to any terrorist activity or intent."

The case will also seek to establish whether it was a premeditated and planned incident involving other actors or the work of a lone perpetrator.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry announced that the Flydubai co-pilot suspected of planning an attack on a flight bound for Israel had been transferred to the United Arab Emirates.

The plane's captain and the co-pilot "after their health improved and the medical team cleared them, left the Kingdom heading to Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning... accompanied by the Emirati security team," the ministry said in a statement,

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had called the emergency on the flight to Tel Aviv "an attempted jihadist terror attack" that was thwarted. 

Passengers described rushing the cockpit to assist the pilot after he was stabbed by his copilot, who then put the plane into a steep dive in an apparent attempt to crash the airliner. 

Aside from minor cuts and bruises among those who intervened in the cockpit, the passengers — the vast majority of whom were Israeli — were all unhurt. 

Judicial authorities in the UAE have jurisdiction over the incident. 

This is because the aircraft is registered in the UAE and flies under its flag, the statement said, adding that UAE law applied to crimes committed on board "even if they occur outside the country's territory." 

The plane was over northern Saudi Arabia for the majority of the early-morning security incident, with tracking data suggesting it briefly crossed into Jordan before turning around to make an emergency landing at the nearby Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also indicated the likelihood of the UAE leading any investigation in an TV interview with Fox News. 

Speaking on Fox and Friends early on Thursday, Netanyahu said of the suspect, "We know that he underwent Islamist radical indoctrination," saying "that appears to be something we're gathering from his personal information," without providing further specifics. 

He also said that the accounts of those on board made it clear he had suicidal intent, saying that even "after he was subdued," the pilot was appealing to the air crew to kill him. Netanyahu said he didn't want to make "final conclusions yet," but said the "indications we have now" appeared to paint a fairly clear picture. 

Netanyahu also said Israel was looking into an apparent "loophole" with the "full cooperation of the Emirati government" to establish how the pilot was in the cockpit in the first place.   

"He was an Omani national and we have constraints that say you can't have pilots from countries that don't have diplomatic relations with Israel. So obviously, he was able to go through that," Netanyahu said.

The Omani copilot's identity has not been made public as yet and his motive is the subject of ongoing investigations. 

Asked about the possibility of Iranian involvement in this specific incident amid the conflict in the Gulf, Netanyahu said "it's too early to say." 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog plans to nominate four passengers who helped overpower the attacker for the Presidential Medal for Civil Courage. 

Herzog and Netanyahu spoke with the passengers when they arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on a replacement flight late on Wednesday. 

Herzog named the passengers as Yaniv Hayoun, Shota Musayev, Zvika Manes and Asaf Rajuan.

"You put yourselves at risk to save others and prevented a terrible disater," Herzog said. "Today, the whole world saw the beautiful and courageous face of Israeli society." 

The medal is Israel's highest civilian award for heroism. Herzog confers the medal but typically nominees are formally chosen by a committee. 

Musayev, a dentist who administered first aid to the severely wounded Indian pilot, told Herzog everyone on board had acted courageously.

"We supported one another on the plane and also when we arrived in Saudi Arabia, and we took care of each other as we should," he said. 

The Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, has also received staunch praise from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and from India's Narendra Modi. Passengers described how the pilot fought off his attacker despite his wounds and was able to open the cockpit door to let them in to aid him. He was in a stable condition in a Saudi hospital, India's Embassy in Riyadh said on Wednesday. 

"In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others," Modi said online. "His valor helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy."