Earlier this week we saw an absolutely horrifying incident, whereby a flydubai pilot operating a flight between Dubai (DXB) and Tel Aviv (TLV) stabbed the other pilot, and attempted to crash the plane. Fortunately he was stopped when the injured captain managed to open the cockpit door, and passengers could step in to help.
It seems pretty clear that this was some sort of a terror plot. I mean, anyone trying to down a plane with nearly 200 people onboard is committing an unthinkable act. However, one question has been whether the pilot is someone who was acting alone and was only recently radicalized, or what…
The flydubai first officer had a history of radicalization
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Omani flydubai first officer who stabbed the captain had previously been banned from flying by his home country of Oman. The reason is due to concerns he had adopted radical ideological views, according to people familiar with the matter.
It hasn’t been determined, however, whether Oman shared concerns about the pilot’s radicalization with other countries or airlines, nor do we know about the nature of his radicalization.
The UAE is leading the investigation into this terror plot, but has refused to comment, “to avoid prejudging the outcome of the investigation or interfering with its course.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said “the attacker underwent Islamic radicalization,” and that “he came to crash the passengers on board.”
Honestly, we are so lucky that this guy was incredibly sloppy with his scheme. You’d think he would’ve just locked the cockpit door while the captain was using the bathroom, so that this would actually work. The captain is a hero of the highest order, because if he hadn’t managed to open the door, everyone on that plane would without a doubt be dead (along with who knows how many people on the ground).
I don’t think this situation will be easy to recover from
Gulf airlines have of course had a really rough year, given the conflict with Iran, and the impact this has had on the region, including airports. The Gulf carriers have seen a significant decline in traffic — after all, they’ve historically used their hubs to shuttle people between other parts of the world, thanks to their advantageous geography.
As you’d expect, the sights of explosions at airports definitely hasn’t helped with convincing people to travel through the region. But if you ask me, this latest situation just took the issues for Gulf carriers to the next level. Right or wrong, I think this will make a lot more people reconsider traveling through the region, over concerns of a similar event in the future. And I’m not just talking about flydubai, but also other airlines. Again, I’m not suggesting that’s necessarily rational, but knowledge of terror plots is understandably disturbing to many people.
Unfortunately I have some skepticism here as to how transparently this investigation will be performed. The UAE is leading the investigation, flydubai is owned by the government, and we know that the UAE very much cares about its image. So if there were any shortcomings in the screening of pilots, I can’t imagine we’re going to get the full picture.
I’ve said for years that it’s logical for Emirates and flydubai to merge, and I can’t help but wonder if this is finally the catalyst for that. Maybe I’m just overthinking it because this is a big news story right now, but I truly believe this event is something that flydubai can never recover from, in terms of its reputation (that says nothing of the fact that the airline has an absolutely massive order book). It’s the same as how Germanwings was rebranded as Eurowings shortly after the pilot there had a terror plot.
Even from Emirates’ perspective, the airlines codeshare, and lots of global travelers might have a segment on flydubai, and immediately think twice about it, given the first thing that comes to mind. Again, I’m not saying any of that is rational, but companies spend a lot of money building an image, and something like this can destroy it pretty quickly.
Bottom line
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the flydubai pilot who attempted to crash the Israel-bound Boeing 737 and kill everyone onboard had apparently been banned from flying by Oman, over his radical views. It’s not yet clear to what extent that was shared with the UAE or with flydubai, or if their background checks into him were sufficient (I mean, seemingly not).
However, it makes it pretty clear that this guy wasn’t just radicalized overnight, and that this should’ve been prevented in the first place. I think this will be a major setback for many Gulf carriers, and in particular, I think this situation could be catastrophic for flydubai, at least in its current form.
What do you make of this report about the flydubai pilot’s radicalization?
SNIC seems to think this is not a terrorist plot. Can't possibly be that naive, can he? Since the UAE had some connection to the 9/11 terrorists there is obviously an underground terrorist cell involved. Further investigation hopefully will find out how this person was first hired and then how he was able to be scheduled on the flight.
Yes, Martha, this was a terrorist attack without any doubt. Perhaps the first officer was...
SNIC seems to think this is not a terrorist plot. Can't possibly be that naive, can he? Since the UAE had some connection to the 9/11 terrorists there is obviously an underground terrorist cell involved. Further investigation hopefully will find out how this person was first hired and then how he was able to be scheduled on the flight.
Yes, Martha, this was a terrorist attack without any doubt. Perhaps the first officer was not that convinced he wanted to die and then panicked at the last minute as time ran out on the flight.
As another example, we are flying to Vietnam in January. Obviously, we had plenty of options. We ruled out the Middle East carriers when we booked a few months ago … price, politics and all the shooting. Chaos can occur anywhere, but why subject ourselves to all that?
Stating the obvious this points to some breakdown in the security screening process by the GCAA of the UAE. Working for an airline in the UAE requires undergoing a security screening, which according to the published criteria is supposed to weed out people like the Omani pilot. Maybe he slipped through because he is a GCC-National, but while these don't have to go through the work-visa process, they still have to go through security screening.
Stating the obvious this points to some breakdown in the security screening process by the GCAA of the UAE. Working for an airline in the UAE requires undergoing a security screening, which according to the published criteria is supposed to weed out people like the Omani pilot. Maybe he slipped through because he is a GCC-National, but while these don't have to go through the work-visa process, they still have to go through security screening.
The other issue is, that there seems to have been a screwup in the rostering. I read in some article, that the cockpit crew of flights from the UAE to TLV are staffed with people outside muslim countries to avoid potential "conflicts of interest". That obviously didn't happen here.
So, FlyDubai hires a KNOWN or SUSPECTED TERRORIST?! This is massive news that isnt being said enough. Ok, if not a know terrorist, he was absolutely known to be radical and was deemed not worthy to fly by another MUSLIM nation. This is absolutely bonkers! I absolutely had some doubts about FlyDubai based off of their crew rest schedules you wrote about several years ago or from what I heard, now they hire a KNOWN...
So, FlyDubai hires a KNOWN or SUSPECTED TERRORIST?! This is massive news that isnt being said enough. Ok, if not a know terrorist, he was absolutely known to be radical and was deemed not worthy to fly by another MUSLIM nation. This is absolutely bonkers! I absolutely had some doubts about FlyDubai based off of their crew rest schedules you wrote about several years ago or from what I heard, now they hire a KNOWN or SUSPECTED TERRORIST!
Ok, the other VERY BIG QUESTION is, if he was "known", how did Israeli intelligence not know about this guy flying into their country?! Surely, even crew members are vetted and run through the system, arent they?! They definitely are in the US.
So I am not very trustworthy of Israeli intelligence services, especially after 10/7 and now this....
Flydubai and Emirates are already effectively merged. They have the same Chairman (along with other airport and aerospace, leasing and other companies) and senior management interchanges.
"this guy was incredibly sloppy with his scheme. You’d think he would’ve just locked the cockpit door while the captain was using the bathroom, so that this would actually work."
This is why I don't think this event was a "terrorist plot." Compare what unfolded to the 9/11 attacks, which were meticulously planned beginning years in advance, and during which the 19 hijackers made few mistakes (although they did make some). I think this was...
"this guy was incredibly sloppy with his scheme. You’d think he would’ve just locked the cockpit door while the captain was using the bathroom, so that this would actually work."
This is why I don't think this event was a "terrorist plot." Compare what unfolded to the 9/11 attacks, which were meticulously planned beginning years in advance, and during which the 19 hijackers made few mistakes (although they did make some). I think this was a spur-of-the moment decision by an unstable pilot who had a lot of antipathy towards Israel and/or the UAE. That doesn't make what happened any more palatable or in any way excuse the pilot's actions, but in the interest of understanding and preventing this sort of event, we should avoid calling it a "terrorist plot" until that's proven otherwise.
The distinction is important. If we insist that this is a "terrorist plot", we risk not trying hard enough to prevent incidents in which pilot mental instability is the greater causal factor.
I would counter with the reality that just because one person acted alone as a terrorist does not make it any less of a terrorist act or plot. In fact, it's the most dangerous kind. The terrorist acting alone falls under the radar of intelligence agencies and are perhaps the most feared fanatic zealots there are. There is no chatter, no trail.
As to the "sloppy scheme." I suspect it will come out that...
I would counter with the reality that just because one person acted alone as a terrorist does not make it any less of a terrorist act or plot. In fact, it's the most dangerous kind. The terrorist acting alone falls under the radar of intelligence agencies and are perhaps the most feared fanatic zealots there are. There is no chatter, no trail.
As to the "sloppy scheme." I suspect it will come out that it was his intent all along if/when the Captain used the loo. Quite likely he didn't. Or, the FO was waiting to be closer to Israeli airspace knowing that satellite services on cell phones could have alerted authorities if he flew too long with the captain locked out. That would result in Saudi or Israeli jets shooting them down before he could do damage to civilian population areas. That provided axe in the cockpit was always plan B. Sloppy? I would say he had a thought out plan all along.
I think it's absolutely fair to call it a terrorist plot. Your distinction is whether he planned it two weeks or two minutes before execution. That is irrelevant to recognizing it as a terror plot.
Many courts have held that premeditation can occur within seconds. If a perpetrator had enough time to consciously decide to commit the act before acting, then that is a plot.
Given the relatively short flight time, theres a high chance the pilot wouldn't have needed to use the bathroom for duration of flight.
This is so serious. Unfortunately our media is sleeping at the wheel. FlyDubai and Emirates are joined at the hip. So how come their security mechanism failed to red flag this guy. There are a lot of Emirates flights that fly to North America, heck even New York City. How am i supposed to feel comfortable flying them, knowing they let a radical Islamist, who was deemed by a Muslim country as too radical, right into the cockpit.
This is super scary.
I'm not sure if Ben isn't overthinking this. The difference to German Wings is, that the plane didn't actually crash. Will some people think twice about this? For sure, especially regional passangers, but compared to the current problems of gulf carriers, this is just a small concern.
The impact on the region is a bit higher, we haven't heard about any recent bombings of middle eastern airports but this brings the war again into...
I'm not sure if Ben isn't overthinking this. The difference to German Wings is, that the plane didn't actually crash. Will some people think twice about this? For sure, especially regional passangers, but compared to the current problems of gulf carriers, this is just a small concern.
The impact on the region is a bit higher, we haven't heard about any recent bombings of middle eastern airports but this brings the war again into focus with an aviation relation, so surely it will have a shortterm general effect. I agree that two separate government airlines make no sense, but this seems to be a theme in the region (see Saudia / Riyadh Air).
The plane surely would have crashed if it wasn't stopped in time, which it barely was. How dumb can you be?
Was the plane denied entry into Jordanian and/or Israeli airspace? It seems both countries would have airports closer than Tabuk?
Initial reports said that both Jordan and Saudi Arabia initially denied the plane landing rights. That struck me as curious - why would they do that?
Israelis...
Perhaps because they did not know if or trust that whomever was flying might not try to kamikaze the plane into a civilian population area or something?
Watch out. The cry baby GCC citizens will start throwing a temper tantrum if you dare say their country is not perfect!!
Sleeper cell activated. We all know what this nation is capable of.
EK and FZ are quite aligned. This incident bleeds over to EK for anyone who understands how closely they work together. As such, I am really curious as to the entire pilot hiring and monitoring system for both. I imagine there is a pilot shortage there now as the Middle East is not a place these days for lucrative recruitment. So it seems natural that Fly Dubai would be at the core of feeling this...
EK and FZ are quite aligned. This incident bleeds over to EK for anyone who understands how closely they work together. As such, I am really curious as to the entire pilot hiring and monitoring system for both. I imagine there is a pilot shortage there now as the Middle East is not a place these days for lucrative recruitment. So it seems natural that Fly Dubai would be at the core of feeling this and quickly placing any pilot they can find into the FO seat. With that, as EK loses some Western pilots given the problems in the ME, it's natural to move up more experienced Captains from FZ which compounds the problem even more. The whole thing is a powder keg. EK and FZ are too big for what's happening right now.
By the way, you also have to thank the terrible design of the 737 cockpit door. The 737 door is held tight by a latch only. Once unlocked from the inside, the door can freely swing open, in this case since the plane was in a diving descent, the door swang open, allowing the passengers to quickly get in. If it was ANY OTHER PLANE like 787 or airbus, the cockpit door would still be shut (preventing the loud struggle to be easily heard.). And would have ended badly.
Except the injured captain opened the door.
Pilots are supposed to undergo a background check before hire. Thats industry standard practice.
So, flydubai didn't feel like doing one?
I'm wondering if either the screening was dubious on that front or if he radicalized after he was hired (though the latter would point to a need to repeat the process at regular intervals).
But if the background check was the issue, I think there's good cause for countries to threaten to ban flydubai (which autocorrect wants to call "fly dubious") unless they sort themselves out.
well how do you background check someone from a foreign country? In the US, almost every pilot (if not all) are American citizens, so it's pretty easy to run them through various systems. In the case of this scenario, pilot is from Oman, being hired in UAE. Although I'm sure they are close, I doubt it's such an easy system to cross check stuff in foreign countries, but did FlyDubai not check his previous work...
well how do you background check someone from a foreign country? In the US, almost every pilot (if not all) are American citizens, so it's pretty easy to run them through various systems. In the case of this scenario, pilot is from Oman, being hired in UAE. Although I'm sure they are close, I doubt it's such an easy system to cross check stuff in foreign countries, but did FlyDubai not check his previous work history and references or call his previous employer? Did the pilot even list his previous employer? These are questions to be asked. I'm guessing UAE probably just asked for a criminal history report, which presumably would be negative. His radicalization wont show up on a criminal history report. There are a lot of bad people out there who have never been arrested...
I have a segment on FZ coming up on my trip to Mt Everest fairly soon. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
I had the option of AI FC from JFK, but after your latest review I went with Emirates/FlyDubai
For real?? If so, woah (safe travels and climbing!) If not, oof, you got me so good (gotta add the ‘/s’)!
No, for real and thanks. It's a way to celebrate my one year anniversary of anonymously donating a kidney.
I'm not climbing Everest, but am hiking for 16 days from Lukla ending up at ~18k ft.
To Kala Pattar?
Regardless, safe travels and enjoy your trip to Everest!
That's amazing!! Wishing you the very best. Be safe, enjoy! You should totally submit an OMAAT Reader Story of your experience (if you're interested).
I'm not sure this hinders Flydubai as much as it hinders flights to Israel in general which because of the genocide are undoubtedly targets.
There's no way people flying to Israel don't already understand these risks, and it's the same reason why El-Al has so many extra security precautions.
Please don’t talk about “the” genocide - as though that’s what it is. I expect more from contributors here.
Its genocide, plane and simple and Kenny brought it up because it affects the very country which FZ was flying to.
The only “genocide” being committed is by the ones who pray to that black box who have been terrorizing every other single religion and community around the world for two millennia. You people are delirious.
So…Christians? I guess we are the ones who have been terrorising the world for two millennia what with the Crusades, World Wars, Holocaust, colonial violence, and all of the modern day prolonged wars. Yep - I agree that we are terrorists too week more blood on our hands than others but hey we just go confess in a little box and we’re forgiven and God’s son bears the burden of all our sins so we’re...
So…Christians? I guess we are the ones who have been terrorising the world for two millennia what with the Crusades, World Wars, Holocaust, colonial violence, and all of the modern day prolonged wars. Yep - I agree that we are terrorists too week more blood on our hands than others but hey we just go confess in a little box and we’re forgiven and God’s son bears the burden of all our sins so we’re acquitted. There are terrorists who have perverted and twisted the teachings in all religions. Do not generalise an entire religion nor people. Similarly, what is happening in the state of Israel right now can also be considered ethnic cleansing, but more gradually. The only true generalisation is that humans are corrupt parasites.
Your history is interesting. You blame the Crusades? Are you simple? Islam invaded Europe and stayed as a conqueror as early as 684AD to the 1400's before the "last of them" were thrown out. Just look at Spain (al-Andalus) and see the remains of the occupation including The Alhambra, The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, The Royal Alcázar etc. The crusades were the reply to Muslim atrocities both in Europe and the Middle East.
Muslims always...
Your history is interesting. You blame the Crusades? Are you simple? Islam invaded Europe and stayed as a conqueror as early as 684AD to the 1400's before the "last of them" were thrown out. Just look at Spain (al-Andalus) and see the remains of the occupation including The Alhambra, The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, The Royal Alcázar etc. The crusades were the reply to Muslim atrocities both in Europe and the Middle East.
Muslims always have a way of blaming the victims - just look at the massacre (genocide) of the Israeli and other country victims of the October 7 massacre!
Left wing always blames the victim of terrorism.
@Ezzrraa: Thanks for your idiotic and bigoted comment. It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
The biggest question is how this fanatical lunatic got a weapon through security at DXB. I expect that the investigators will have some very tough questions for the airport's Head of Security when they get around to interviewing her.
What does the situation in Sudan has to do with Flydubai?
He didn't. The weapon the co-pilot used was an axe that is kept in the cockpit for emergency use - if they need to chop through or pull back something.
Even if the Omanis failed to pass on the information, Dubai State Security should have caught this. Massive failure by the Emiratis. Most of the pilots employed by ME3 are expats with a lot originating from the Gulf and Middle East.
We are at a time in history where the next guy will not be so bumbling. Sad reality of the world in 2026.
I’m shocked that Israel didn’t catch this guy either! How are they not doing background checks on every pilot flying into the country? Massive security failure.
Is the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv really so long that the pilot would necessarily have to use the bathroom? Doesn’t really seem like it…
It usually takes a little over three hours. It's not LaGuardia to Philly.
Pete, I agree with your sentiment, but there are no longer any NYC-PHL flights.
These days travelers would need to drive or take a train (Amtrak, etc.) For an example Down Under, would be a little longer than Brisbane to Gold Coast.
For anyone interested, last commercial nonstop flights between NYC-Philly ended in 2025 with American’s LGA-PHL. Prior to that, United Airlines cut EWR-PHL in 2024. And, American ended JFK-PHL in 2022.
Honestly, if...
Pete, I agree with your sentiment, but there are no longer any NYC-PHL flights.
These days travelers would need to drive or take a train (Amtrak, etc.) For an example Down Under, would be a little longer than Brisbane to Gold Coast.
For anyone interested, last commercial nonstop flights between NYC-Philly ended in 2025 with American’s LGA-PHL. Prior to that, United Airlines cut EWR-PHL in 2024. And, American ended JFK-PHL in 2022.
Honestly, if anyone needs to go from NYC-DC, ideally just take Acela or Northeast Regional trains. Same for NYC-BOS. Within 3-4 hours you can be either end. For BOS-DC, better to fly (otherwise 7+ hours train.) Wish we had more high speed rail in the US. I love me some choochoos.
More to the point, are there still major airlines around which don't insist on two people in the cockpit at all times?
simmonad, Ben just covered the topic (https://onemileatatime.com/insights/two-person-cockpit-rule/) It seems the 'two people in the cockpit at all times' rule is mostly in North America (FAA, Transport Canada require an authorized crew member to step-in while one pilot uses lavatory). Even following Germanwings (2015), the EASA treats it as a voluntary recommendation, leaving it up to airlines. Perhaps, airlines and regulators should reconsider.
Maybe he was really guzzling some coffee!
Wow, if Oman had previously banned this guy, but flydubai still let him fly that’s really bad on the airline. Carriers should review whether crew members have been banned by other countries, especially on such grounds. Yikes.
With everything happening in the region an incident like this were there was no crash and no one died will probably cause less concern than you'd expect. I doubt most people who have heard of this situation could even name which airline was involved.
agree that this will change the behavior of a lot of folks, but imho as far as mental health goes, i'm a lot more concerned that any given oncoming driver on a rural highway could easily move their wrist 30 degrees and end me