FLYDUBAI CO-PILOT PLANNED ATTACK ON TEL AVIV AIRPORT, UAE SAYS

An Omani co-pilot operating FlyDubai flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv planned to crash the aircraft into a terminal at Israel's Ben Gurion airport on 30 September, the United Arab Emirates' attorney general said on Friday, according to the state news agency WAM. Prosecutors said the plan amounted to a suicide attack intended to cause the maximum possible loss of life. The attempt was thwarted by the flight's captain, the attorney general said. The aircraft, carrying 182 people, plunged around 16,000 feet in 30 seconds during the episode, tearing away part of its rudder, before making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Prosecutors said the co-pilot had drawn inspiration from al-Qaeda's 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.

An investigation opened by UAE authorities on 1 October found that the co-pilot had used two earlier flights on the same route to familiarise himself with the flight path and the layout of Ben Gurion airport, WAM reported. The attorney general said the suspect told investigators he had acted alone and had no accomplices. He had met all of the airline's security requirements before being rostered to fly, prosecutors said. Investigators did not publicly detail how the captain intervened to stop the attempt once it began.

The co-pilot had previously worked for several airlines in different countries, including Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc, before joining FlyDubai in January 2026, according to the attorney general's office. WAM reported the findings as the UAE's official account of the case, based on the investigation opened immediately after the 30 September flight. The attorney general's statement on Friday marked the first detailed public account of what prosecutors allege the co-pilot intended to do. The case centres on the Dubai-Tel Aviv route operated by FlyDubai, a UAE-based airline.