Victoria’s Joint Counter Terrorism Team is examining the Australian connections of the co-pilot accused of attacking the captain and attempting to seize control of the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Sources say he may have studied in Melbourne around a decade ago.
By the online newsroom
Australian authorities have joined the investigation into the dramatic incident aboard flydubai flight FZ1073, which was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a violent attack inside the cockpit.
The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, which includes the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and ASIO, is investigating the co-pilot’s links to Australia.
According to sources briefed on the inquiry, the man studied in Melbourne. One source said he attended RMIT University around ten years ago. The university has declined to comment.
Captain attacked with emergency crash axe
According to authorities in the United Arab Emirates, the co-pilot attacked the captain with an emergency crash axe and then attempted to take control of the aircraft.
The UAE prosecutor general described the incident as a terrorist attack.
The flight, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, most of them Israeli nationals.
Passengers and crew members eventually managed to subdue the co-pilot.
Aircraft plunged 16,000 feet in about 30 seconds
During the emergency, the Boeing aircraft reportedly dropped around 16,000 feet in roughly 30 seconds.
An aviation instructor who later recreated the descent in a simulator described the experience as being similar to a “vertical roller coaster”.
After the co-pilot was restrained, a reserve flydubai pilot travelling on board took control of the aircraft.
The plane was then safely landed at Tabuk Airport in north-western Saudi Arabia.
Co-pilot now in UAE custody
The suspect was initially detained by Saudi authorities before being transferred to the United Arab Emirates.
Sources familiar with the investigation have identified him as an Omani national, although UAE authorities and flydubai have not officially disclosed his identity.
No formal charges had been publicly announced at the time of the latest reports, and it is not known whether he has appointed legal representation.
Oman has not publicly commented on the case.
Australian investigators examine his past
Authorities are now trying to reconstruct the co-pilot’s time in Australia.
Investigators are expected to examine his period of study in Melbourne, his contacts in the country and whether Australian security agencies had previously identified any concerns.
The Financial Times reported that the man may have visited mosques described as radical and accessed extremist websites while in Australia.
Those claims, however, have not been publicly confirmed by Australian authorities.
The same report said Australian intelligence services had previously held a file on the individual.
The investigation will now seek to determine whether any of those alleged links are relevant to what happened on flight FZ1073.
Netanyahu raises radicalisation concerns
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed the co-pilot had undergone Islamist radicalisation and was suicidal.
It has not been publicly established when or where any alleged radicalisation may have occurred.
Netanyahu has also ordered Israel’s National Security Council to carry out a broader review of the security arrangements surrounding foreign civilian flights into Israel.
Another issue under scrutiny is how the co-pilot came to be assigned to the Tel Aviv route.
Israel does not have formal diplomatic relations with Oman, and Netanyahu has said pilots from certain countries should not have been operating flights to Israel.
That question is also expected to form part of the wider security review.
Investigation becomes increasingly international
The flydubai case is now developing into a multinational investigation involving the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Australia.
Australian counter-terrorism officials are focused on the co-pilot’s past connections to Melbourne, while authorities elsewhere continue to reconstruct what happened inside the cockpit and assess possible motives.
For now, several key questions remain unanswered.
What is clear is that flight FZ1073 came close to disaster, and that the actions of the captain, passengers, crew and reserve pilot prevented the emergency from becoming a mass-casualty event.
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