We've learned a lot in the aftermath of the apparent attempted hijacking of the FlyDubai flight from Wednesday that was flying from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Tel Aviv, Israel, when the co-pilot, described only as an Omani national, brutally attacked the pilot in what has been described as an attempt to take over the plane full of Israelis and crash it.
For instance, on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed in a Fox News interview that the co-pilot was being interrogated and that the authorities had learned that he had "underwent Islamist radical indoctrination," adding, "that appears to be something we're gathering from the information – his personal information."
We've also heard the riveting stories of the heroic passengers and crew members, including Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who helped save the plane and every life on it by taking swift action in the cockpit despite his condition, managing to get the door unlocked, which allowed rescuers on the plummeting plane to act quickly by subduing the attacker and retaking control of the aircraft, which landed safely in Saudi Arabia.
Naturally, when things like this happen, news outlets like to talk to aviation experts, including pilots, to get their thoughts and perspectives on what happened. But on one program, AM Agenda on Sky News Australia's News24 channel, anchor Laura Jayes got more than what she bargained for with one veteran Aussie pilot - Byron Bailey, who proceeded to tell her in no uncertain terms what he felt the attacker's motives were, despite the media's insistence on putting on blinders.
From the interview:
“I've flown in and out of Tel Aviv with the British airline a lot. I also flew many times out of Dubai. So I'm fairly aware of the whole situation, but how deep do you want to go into it? Because I hear them say, ‘Oh, we wonder what the motive is,’" said Bailey.
He continued, “Well, excuse me. In the Middle East, the motive is the fact that Islam calls for the death of Jews, all Jews. It's part of the core belief of Islam. This Royal Commission, this joke they had in Australia recently about antisemitism, just ignores the reality of what is the core belief of Islam, that all Jews must die until the world becomes pure, free of Jews."
“This was actually probably an act of religious devotion, where the guy took advantage of the fact that he could kill Jews and martyr himself in the process, because that's what they want to do," continued Bailey. However, at this point the [interviewer] cut him off and said to him, “Let's just stick to the technical aspect here."
Watch:
SkyNews Australia had veteran Captain, Byron Bailey on talking about the FlyDubai Flight from the UAE - Tel Aviv and let’s just say, it didn’t go the way Sky News expected it to. Watch! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/wUS4DDzhzj
— Israel75 (@IFNY2775) October 2, 2026
Mr. Bailey, I should note, is not just your average pilot, either:
Captain Byron Bailey is a veteran Australian aviation expert, former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter pilot, and former senior captain for Emirates Airlines with over 45 years of commercial flying experience and more than 26,000 flying hours.
He is widely recognised across Australian media, particularly on Sky News Australia and The Australian, where he frequently provides expert analysis on major international airline incidents and air safety.
Captain Byron Bailey is a veteran Australian aviation expert, former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter pilot, and former senior captain for Emirates Airlines with over 45 years of commercial flying experience and more than 26,000 flying hours.
— Mark Rowley (@MarkWRowley) October 2, 2026
He is widely recognised… pic.twitter.com/3vMxvSs9Hm
In other words, when this man talks, you might wanna listen... and not cut him off. Unless you're not really interested in hearing the inconvenient facts.
We need more people out there like Byron Bailey who are unafraid to tell it like it really is. Sugarcoating what's going on won't save one life and, in fact, will cause more loss of life as long as The Usual Suspects keep tap-dancing around the bigger issue here.
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