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 pre-meditated and planned incident involving other actors or the work of a lone perpetrator. 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 curts 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. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also indicated the likelihood of the UAE leading any investigation in a TV interview with Fox News. "The attacking pilot is ... now being investigated in Saudi Arabia.
I think he'll be taken to the Emirates, where he comes from, or at least where he left, where he flew off from, and we'll be following and possibly also participating in this investigation," Netanyahu said. The Omani copilot's identity has not been made public as yet and his motive is not clear. US President Donald Trump said that based on a discussion with Netanyahu, he understood that the suspect was "perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack-job." Asked about the possibility of Iranian involvement 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.
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