flydubai flight incident: Israel joins probe; motive behind Omani pilot's attack remains unknown

The motive of the Omani copilot who stabbed his captain on a flight to Israel causing the plane to plummet dangerously and forcing it to land in Saudi Arabia remained unknown on Thursday as investigators across the region raced to learn moreIsraeli passengers who were on the FlyDubai aircraft carrying 174 people from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv have described how the bloodied Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door to let them in before they grappled with the copilot and stabilised a descent so sharp that the planes rudder was torn awayWe felt helpless suspended in midair and I didnt know who to turn to But it was all instinct to survive one of the responders Asaf Rajuan said in a new statement shared by Israels presidencyA regional official briefed on the investigation said the suspect an Omani citizen was under arrest and confirmed that Saudi authorities were working with countries including Israel to try to determine a motive He said the UAE the United States and Oman also were involved The official did not describe the extent of Israeli involvementAll possible scenarios from terrorism to mental disorders are being looked into Nothing is ruled out for now said the official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the probeIsraeli investigators will join the interrogation of the copilotIsraeli intelligence and security officials were investigating the copilot in Saudi Arabia according to another regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the mediaSaudi Arabia does not have formal diplomatic ties with Israel but there is longstanding security and intelligence cooperation through alternative channelsVideo shot inside the plane by Shota Musayev a dentist who treated the captain shows the copilot on his knees with his hands tied behind his back The copilots name still has not been releasedThe UAE government said its investigation team had begun its work into the motive and whether it was linked to any terrorist purpose adding that UAE law applies to crimes committed on boardCapt Smit Machchhar widely praised as one of the heroes of the flight was reportedly in stable condition the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said overnight The condition of the copilot was not clearAsked if there is any indication of Iranian involvement Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News its too early to say The prime minister told CNN that Israel had received no specific warningUS President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he and Netanyahu discussed the incident at length by phone and it seemed as though the copilot was perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack jobNetanyahu said he also spoke with the UAEs president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan who agreed that Israel would join the interrogation of the suspectNetanyahu had warned in recent days of unspecified heightened security threats The country is a week away from the anniversary of the Hamasled Oct 7 2023 attack on Israel which has triggered the war in GazaIsraels foreign ministry said the people on board were from Israel India and the UAE The US State Department said four passengers had American citizenshipFlyDubai has said its flights to and from Israel would be suspendedSchool where captain trained calls the safe landing miraculousIn the chaos that unfolded about two and a half hours after leaving Dubai the flight descended from 33000 feet to 17000 feet around 10000 metres to 5100 metres in about a minute before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and landing in Tabuk about an hour later according to Flightradar24 which identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737 Max 8The head of the New Zealand flight school where the Indian captain trained Philip Kean called it miraculous in the way that the aeroplane was never ever kind of designed for that sort of dive and survive that the aeroplane actually didnt break up completelyAlready Trump was praising the USbased Boeing for producing a plane that was able to withstand G Forces and Strain far beyond what it was designedDuring the frantic search for a place to land a person who heard the flights communications with air traffic control described the plane being turned away by Saudi Arabia and Jordan before eventually landing in Tabuk while passengers screamed in the background The pilots voice was trembling as he called mayday and said a hijacking was taking placeThe air traffic control operators gave no reason for the refusals The person who heard the communications spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the mediaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever