The Wall Street Journal is out with an exclusive alleging that the co-pilot who stabbed his captain on FlyDubai Flight 1073 as they flew between Dubai and Tel Aviv earlier this week, nearly downing the aircraft, had been banned from flying in his home country of Oman "over concerns he had adopted radical ideological views," and that, despite the ban, FlyDubai hired the man anyway, "allowing him to pilot on the sensitive route connecting the United Arab Emirates and Israel."
FlyDubai operates at two airports in Oman, Muscat and Salalah, but the aspiring terrorist co-pilot couldn't fly those routes due to the ban. According to the Journal, whether the Omani government shared their concerns about the co-pilot’s radicalization with other countries or airlines. But if he was hired by an airline that operated in a country in which he was prohibited from flying, it would seem that the carrier at least knew of the ban and would be curious as to the nature of the ban. Regardless, the route between Dubai and Tel Aviv is obviously subject to heightened scrutiny and security, and given that Israel doesn't allow pilots whose passports are from countries with which it does not have diplomatic relations to land in the country — which includes Oman — that FlyDubai assigned this man to that route anyway is alarming and needs to be fully investigated.
The U.A.E. is leading the investigation into the attack, and the Journal reports that "A U.A.E. spokesperson declined to comment on the attacker’s history in Oman 'to avoid prejudging the outcome of the investigation or interfering with its course.'" We'd hate for that to happen.
FlyDubai allegedly subjects its pilots to security screening before flights and mandates a yearly medical check, according to a former crew member, who also said that the airline "conducts in-house psychology checks for first officers as they graduate to captain."
An Israeli official told the Journal that Israel "has long called on Dubai airport officials to strengthen security for flights heading to Tel Aviv" and noted that Israel kept its domestic airlines from flying in and out of Dubai earlier this year because of increased security concerns due to the war in Iran.
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