Alleged Flydubai hijacker planned Ben Gurion airport attack, UAE investigation finds

The UAE attorney general said a Flydubai co-pilot planned a suicide attack on Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport.

• A preliminary investigation found the Omani co-pilot attacked the captain with an emergency axe in the cockpit of flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30.
• A return-flight captain regained control and landed the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
• Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the co-pilot planned to crash the plane into Ben Gurion's passenger terminal to cause maximum casualties.
• The suspect confessed in his lawyer's presence that he acted alone, as the investigation continues to check for accomplices.
• Al Shamsi traced the 29-year-old Omani co-pilot's radicalisation to studies he undertook in Australia in 2017.
• The investigation reported he drew inspiration from the September 11 attacks and had links to a Melbourne centre allegedly backed by a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organisation.
• Prosecutors said the co-pilot's radicalisation began at RMIT University in Melbourne through takfiri ideology, extremist literature and online content.
• The flight carried 182 people and was stopped by passengers and crew before the attacker could seize control of it.