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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
By Erin Cunningham

FlyDubai co-pilot intended to crash plane into Tel Aviv airport, UAE prosecutor says

Israel Mideast Emergency Landing - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The axe-wielding co-pilot who attacked the captain of a FlyDubai flight to Tel Aviv last month intended to seize control of the airplane and fly it into the passenger terminal at Israel’s main international airport, authorities in the United Arab Emirates said Friday.

The suspect, an Omani national, did so “with the intention of causing the greatest possible number of human casualties,” the UAE’s top prosecutor said in a statement carried by the state news agency WAM. Most of the 174 passengers on the flight were from Israel.

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