FlyDubai Co-Pilot Who Attacked Captain Had Been Barred From Flying in Oman Over Extremism Concerns

The co-pilot who stabbed his captain aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073 this week as it flew between Dubai and Tel Aviv had previously been banned from flying in his home country of Oman over concerns he had embraced radical ideological views, according to an exclusive report from The Wall Street Journal. Despite that ban, FlyDubai hired him and assigned him to the sensitive Dubai-Tel Aviv route, the Journal reported.

The attack nearly brought down the aircraft. FlyDubai operates flights into two Omani airports, Muscat and Salalah, but the co-pilot was barred from flying those routes specifically because of the extremism concerns raised against him.

It remains unclear whether Omani authorities shared their concerns about the man’s radicalization with other governments or airlines. But his hiring by a carrier that itself flies into Oman raises questions about what FlyDubai knew about the ban and why it placed him on one of its most security-sensitive routes regardless.

The Dubai-Tel Aviv corridor already carries heightened security scrutiny. Israel does not permit pilots holding passports from countries with which it lacks diplomatic relations to land on its soil — a category that includes Oman. That FlyDubai still assigned this pilot to the route is drawing scrutiny from investigators and outside observers alike.

The United Arab Emirates is leading the investigation into the attack. A U.A.E. spokesperson declined to comment on the attacker’s history in Oman, telling the Journal the government wanted to avoid “prejudging the outcome of the investigation or interfering with its course.”

What Security Checks Were in Place

A former FlyDubai crew member told the Journal that the airline subjects pilots to security screening before flights and requires an annual medical check. The same former employee said FlyDubai conducts in-house psychological evaluations for first officers as they advance to the rank of captain.

An Israeli official told the Journal that Israel has long pressed Dubai airport officials to tighten security on flights bound for Tel Aviv. The official also noted that Israel had suspended its own domestic airlines from flying in and out of Dubai earlier this year because of heightened security concerns tied to the war in Iran.

The investigation into the attack, and into how the co-pilot came to be hired and assigned to the route despite the Omani ban, is ongoing.