Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash plane into airport, Israeli media reports

A flydubai pilot who allegedly attacked a colleague in the cockpit on a flight to Israel planned to crash into the Ben Gurion airport, Israeli media outlets have reported.

Israeli news site Ynet, citing officials, reported that the pilot intended to continue flying normally before crashing into the main airport in Israel.

This is why the pilot allegedly waited until the plane was in Jordanian airspace to stab his captain, according to reports cited in The Times of Israel.

If he could not reach Israel, his plan was to crash into the US military base in Jordan, Channel 12 reported.

Pilot planned attack for months, Israeli media reports

Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, who attempted to hijack the plane carrying 174 passengers, is being interrogated in the United Arab Emirates, the Times of Israel reported.

He was previously suspended from flying by Oman Air after being identified as a security risk, according to US reports.

Investigators told the outlet the pilot had planned to carry out the attack in July but did not follow through after forming a personal relationship with one of the crew members.

The commercial flight, which was bound for Tel Aviv from Dubai on Wednesday, was labelled a terrorist attack by the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general over the weekend.

Mr Al-Hammami's plan to crash the plane was thwarted by the actions of Israeli passengers, as well as the struggle put up by Indian captain Smit Machchhar.

The jet plunged nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 metres) in less than 30 seconds in the incident.

Most of the passengers on board were Israelis.

A reserve flydubai pilot travelling on the flight took control of ⁠the aircraft and landed it at Tabuk airport in north-western Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained by Saudi authorities and later transferred to the UAE on Thursday.

AFP confirms investigation of flydubai co-pilot's Australian links

A counterterrorism team is investigating Australian links to Mr Al-Hammami.

The investigation is being conducted by the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, comprising the AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO, an AFP spokesperson said.

An AFP spokesperson said an update would be provided "at an appropriate time".

Sources close to the incident have confirmed the pilot was issued a student visa in 2014 and studied in Australia between 2015 and 2017, whereafter he left the country.

His visa was cancelled in 2019.

The ABC understands his visa was not cancelled on character grounds, but due to his lack of enrolment in a course, rendering him ineligible for a student visa.

The ABC understands the Joint Counter Terrorism Team investigation will examine whether the man was radicalised while in Australia.

Netanyahu orders review into aviation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination and was clearly suicidal, although he has not said when or where that indoctrination allegedly occurred.

There are questions over major security lapses and Israel's vetting of foreign airline crews after the pilot was barred from flying by his own country because of concerns about his extremist views.

It also remains unclear how a citizen of Oman, an Arab country that has no diplomatic relations with Israel, was allowed to fly a planeload of Israelis to Tel Aviv.

On Sunday he instructed the National Security Council to appoint an examiner to "conduct a thorough review of all security aspects regarding foreign civil aviation to Israel".

Israel does not have official diplomatic relations with Oman, and Mr Netanyahu has also said pilots from such countries were not permitted to operate flights to Israel.

It is not clear how the co-pilot came to be assigned to the flight to Tel Aviv.