Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would get to the “root” of an incident involving a co-pilot who allegedly attempted to bring down a Flydubai passenger plane traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, adding that Israel “may” participate in the investigation.
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In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Netanyahu said, “We will get to the root of this attacker, and we will find out whether he had accomplices and whether Iran was behind it. I think we will find out very soon.”
Israeli officials had earlier said that the motive behind the incident aboard Flight FZ1073 was still under investigation.
Asked whether there were indications of Iranian involvement, Netanyahu said, “It is too early to say.
The attacking pilot... is currently being investigated in Saudi Arabia. I think he will be transferred to the UAE, where he came from, or at least to where he originated, where he took off. We will follow the investigation and may participate in it as well.”
Netanyahu said an Israeli plumber helped avert a disaster after a fight broke out in the cockpit of the Flydubai flight, describing the incident as “an incredible heroic act” by the plumber, the Indian pilot and others who helped them. “They prevented what could have been a global catastrophe,” he said.
The prime minister described a dramatic struggle for control of the aircraft, which was carrying 174 passengers, after it descended from around 34,000 feet to below 17,000 feet within one minute, according to FlightRadar24.
The aircraft was forced to land at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia, while the reasons behind the co-pilot’s alleged attack on the pilot, Smit Machar, remain unknown.
A video released by Netanyahu’s office showed the prime minister at the airport meeting a man identified as Yaniv, whom he said was one of the passengers who managed to enter the aircraft’s cockpit. According to Netanyahu and witnesses, passengers managed to restrain the co-pilot as he attempted to bring down the aircraft.
Netanyahu said he was told that the plumber “managed to enter the cockpit, saw the attacker,” then “grabbed him from behind and pulled him back, sat in the pilot’s seat and pulled the control stick back,” while other passengers on board restrained the attacker.
