Religious Extremist, Avoided Women: Colleague On flydubai Pilot Who Tried To Crash Plane

flydubai flight FZ1073 was meant to be a routine hop from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Instead, it dived nearly 18,000 feet after a fight broke out in the cockpit, and the flight captain, Indian national Smit Machchhar, was stabbed. Israeli officials said the co-pilot, reportedly an Omani national, tried to crash the plane before passengers overpowered and restrained him, and other off-roster pilots landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia. 

Now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot, who has yet to be officially identified, is in custody. However, his motive behind the move has not been confirmed, and he is yet to be charged. 

Netanyahu, in an interview with Fox News, said that the co-pilot who is currently being interrogated, underwent Islamist radical indoctrination.

What We Know About The Co-pilot

Talking to Israel's Channel 16 news, a fellow flydubai pilot described his colleague as a religious extremist. 

The pilot said the alleged attacker joined flydubai just eight months ago. "He prayed excessively throughout the day and refused to shake hands with women," he added. 

Investigators are waiting for data from black boxes and collecting passenger videos to establish what happened in the moments before the chaos started. But even as the probe progresses, questions are being raised about the Omani identity of the alleged attacker, as Israeli law mandates that if any airline wants to run operations in Israel, only pilots from countries with which Israel has formal relations would be allowed to land planes in the country. 

Israel does not have any formal diplomatic ties with Oman, and Omani nationals must obtain a visa before entering the Jewish State. 

Israel's transportation minister, Miri Regev, has called for the country's Civil Aviation Authority to investigate whether the United Arab Emirates has breached its aviation agreement by allowing the co-pilot to fly the plane, the Times of Israel reported.

"This is a clear breach of the agreement," a Transportation Ministry source told the Jerusalem Post.

Other sources privy to the development told Channel 12 that the Omani pilot held dual citizenship, which could be the reason why he was allowed to fly the plane, given the strict travel restrictions between the two nations.

The plane was cruising at around 34,000 feet when it suddenly dropped nearly 18,000 feet in minutes after the struggle between pilots broke out in the cockpit, resulting in the lead pilot being attacked. The flight issued two distress warnings -- one being a 7500 code, which signals a hijacking -- before Machchhar, covered in his own blood, managed to draw on "the last moments of his energy" to click open the release on the cockpit door, Netanyahu's office said.

That allowed passengers and crew to overpower the copilot and enable a second pair of flydubai pilots who were on board to land the jet in Tabuk.

The attacker and the injured pilot have since been hospitalised, according to Israeli media reports.