Israel’s Transportation Ministry has said it relies on airlines to conduct background checks on foreign pilots rather than performing those checks itself. “We are not an intelligence body that checks the intelligence background of foreigners,” a ministry security official said.
The UAE’s attorney general said Flydubai co-pilot Hammam al-Hammami planned to crash Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv into Ben Gurion Airport’s passenger terminal. Prosecutors said he attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit’s emergency axe. The wounded captain opened the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to subdue the attacker, and additional pilots aboard landed the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.