Two More Flydubai Pilots Reportedly Detained in Investigation of Tel Aviv Flight Attack
Two Maldivian flydubai pilots were reportedly detained as part of the investigation into the September 30 attack aboard a flight to Tel Aviv, according to the Maldivian outlet Adhadhu. The allegations against them have not been publicly disclosed.
Two Maldivian pilots working for flydubai were reportedly detained as part of the investigation into the September 30 attack aboard a flight to Tel Aviv, according to the Maldivian outlet Adhadhu. The allegations against them have not been publicly disclosed.
Separately, passenger Assaf Rajwan told N12 that a flight attendant tried to loosen the attacker’s restraints, that crew members discouraged filming, and that one of them attempted to give the wounded captain an unidentified pill. Rajwan acknowledged that he had no proof that crew members were accomplices.
The reported detentions
Adhadhu reported that two pilots from the Maldives, who fly for flydubai, were detained as part of the inquiry. The outlet did not publish the allegations against them, and neither have the UAE authorities. It is not clear whether the two are suspects or whether they were held for questioning.
The detentions are reported by a single outlet and have not been publicly confirmed by the UAE.
A passenger’s account
Rajwan, who was on the flight, gave his account to N12. He said a flight attendant tried to loosen the restraints that had been placed on the attacker, that crew members discouraged passengers from filming, and that one crew member attempted to give the wounded captain a pill that nobody identified.
He acknowledged that he has no proof that any crew member was an accomplice. What he describes is behaviour he saw on board, and its meaning is for investigators to establish.
What UAE prosecutors say
UAE prosecutors say the attacker planned to crash the aircraft into the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport, and that he confessed to acting alone. Investigators are still checking that claim. The prosecutors’ account of the plot was detailed in our earlier report on the terminal plot.
The attack took place on September 30 on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The aircraft was diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia and landed safely after the captain was wounded in the cockpit. Benjamin Netanyahu had said on October 1 that preliminary information pointed to Islamist radical indoctrination, as covered in our report on the radicalisation investigation.
What has not been established
A wider terror cell has not been established. The claim that the attacker acted alone is still being tested, and the new reports raise questions about the crew’s conduct and about the two detained pilots, without answering them.
The next details are likely to come from the UAE investigators, who have so far shared their findings through official statements, and from further reporting by the outlets that have spoken to passengers and crew.
