The UAE Calls the Flydubai Cockpit Attack a Terrorist Act as Israel Reviews Foreign Crew Checks

NBC News spoke to passengers after they were flown on to Tel Aviv. A 17-year-old student, Aviatar Alevi, described people "screaming, running, panicking, blood." Yaniv Hayun, whom Netanyahu identified as a plumber, said he helped pull the attacker out of the cockpit and then pulled on the controls. "We really put our heads together and worked as a team," he said.

Reports of a planned crash

The attacker has not been officially named, though media reports quoting unnamed sources identify him as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national. The Standard, relaying Hebrew-language reports, said he told investigators that he meant to carry on with the flight as normal after disposing of the captain, take landing clearance and then crash into a building or a jet at Ben Gurion Airport. The same reports say he had planned an attack for July but called it off at the last moment because he was friends with a crew member. These accounts come second-hand, since Israeli investigators have not questioned him directly, and the UAE has said final results will be announced once its procedures are complete. An Emirati source was quoted as saying he is expected to face the death penalty.

Israel's response

Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel was looking into whether the co-pilot acted on anyone's direction and warned that anyone involved would pay a "heavy price." Earlier in the week he had said it was too early to say whether the attack was targeted or had an Iranian link. On Sunday, according to the Times of Israel's liveblog, he ordered a thorough review of security procedures for foreign flights to Israel.

The practical fallout has been immediate. Flydubai suspended all flights on its Israel route, El Al cancelled its scheduled services and some Israelis were left stranded in the UAE. A first repatriation flight, run by Arkia, reached Ben Gurion from Dubai at 22:00 GMT on Friday.

The vetting question

The harder question is how a pilot with a weapon in his cockpit was cleared to fly. Al Jazeera noted that flydubai's certification and oversight sit with the UAE's civil aviation authority, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency told Reuters that this includes responsibility for ensuring crews are fit to fly. Until the UAE publishes its findings, who knew what about the co-pilot, and when, remains unanswered.