Telegraph UK: ‘Hijacking “Part of 9/11-Style Plot”

The speculation of many tuned-in observers has initial supporting evidence.

Telegraph: Israel is investigating whether a suspected hijacking was part of a 9/11-style plot to crash a passenger jet into a skyscraper. A Flydubai plane from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced into an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a reported struggle for control between the two pilots. Security services in Israel believe the co-pilot stabbed his captain in an attempt to crash the plane in an Israeli city as part of a terror attack.

“This is thought to be a 9/11 scenario where the co-pilot kills the pilot and crashes the plane inside of Israel with all the passengers, mostly Israelis,” one source said….

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, stopped short of labelling the incident a terrorist attack in a statement, referring to it only as an apparent plot “to crash the plane with everyone on board”. Three separate sources, however, said that a September 11-style attack was a major line of inquiry (Telegraph).

• Screaming ALLAH AKBAR, Pilot Stabs Captain, Tries to Crash Dubai Flight Carrying 150 Passengers in Midair Terror Attack

• • WORSE THAN AL JAZEERA OR ISIS MEDIA: NY Times, WSJ, CNN, BBC, Sky News Run Cover for Terror, Attempted Mass Murder and Hijacking Passed Off as an ‘Altercation’

The Omani hijacker who stabbed fellow pilot ‘was a religious extremist who refused to shake hands with women’: Israel launches probe into how ‘terrorist’ was cleared to fly as Flydubai jets are grounded | Daily Mail Online

Israel is probing how a religious extremist from Oman who stabbed his co-pilot during a hijacking described as ‘Israel’s 9/11’ was cleared to fly.

Passengers and crew wrestled the pilot after he attacked his colleague and attempted to take control of the Flydubai jet cruising at altitude from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning.

They then grappled to regain control of the plane, which had plummeted 14,000ft in just 29 seconds, while the severely wounded captain Smit Machchhar lay drenched in his blood on the floor. It is believed a British off-duty pilot was among the saviours.

Speaking in Hebrew on Israel’s Channel 16, foreign editor and news anchor Yosef Yisrael described how he spoke to a colleague of the attacker, who wishes to remain anonymous.

Israel is now investigating how the alleged terrorist was cleared to fly the plane bound for Tel Aviv, given Oman has no diplomatic relations with Israel and foreign crew flying into its airspace are strictly controlled.

Flydubai has now grounded all its jets to and from Israel as it probes the incident.

On Wednesday morning, flight FZ1073 was diverted over Jordanian airspace before landing at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia.

It transmitted a general emergency signal using a squawk code – four-digit numbers used for in-flight communication – of 7700 while making a U-turn over the border between the two countries.

While flying over Saudi Arabia, it briefly issued a code of 7500, signalling unlawful interference or a hijacking. Officials feared the incident could have become another ‘September 11’ attack, adding that passengers had prevented an ‘Israeli 9/11’ by tying up the assailant.

A person who heard the crew’s mayday call with air traffic control described the plane being turned away by Saudi Arabia and Jordan before eventually landing in the major city located in the northwest of the Kingdom.

The person, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the pilot’s voice was trembling as he called ‘mayday’ and said a hijacking was taking place and ambulances would be needed.

But Saudi Arabia initially denied clearance to land and directed him to Jordan. The plane was told to wait for clearance from the Jordanian military and then turned away.

The pilot then returned to Saudi Arabia and said he had to land in Tabuk. The air traffic control operators gave no reason for the earlier refusals.

In a translated version, Mr Yisrael reads out how the violent pilot ‘was someone characterised by very strange behaviour, especially around religious observances that were out of step with his surroundings [at Flydubai]. For instance, he used to pray a lot, and would not shake hands with women’.

Mr Yisrael said his source ‘expressed contrition’ and said Flydubai had ‘betrayed Israel’.

‘There is no other way to put it, we hired the services of a terrorist and nearly caused the deaths of 180 people,’ Mr Yisrael said the man told him. ‘Usually only Emiratis fly to Israel. It is not clear how he got on this flight.’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the assailant’s arrest on Wednesday afternoon, adding he is ‘currently being questioned by the Saudi authorities’. His identity, intention and motive have not yet been confirmed.

Passengers and crew, including the captain Mr Machchhar, have been hailed for their bravery in preventing what is believed to be an attempted suicide mission. One of whom is said to have been an off-duty British pilot.

Mr Machchhar was praised for saving the lives of those 174 passengers on board, which included four Americans. While cruising mid-air, the hero was able to fight off his co-pilot in the cockpit and his attempts to sabotage the plane’s systems.

Distressing footage showed Mr Machchhar lying on the ground covered in blood as passengers tended to his injuries, while another pilot is seen seemingly lying nearby unconscious. Passengers can be heard telling one of the men: ‘You saved the plane.’

Delhi’s embassy in Saudi Arabia has since confirmed Mr Machchhar is being treated in a hospital in Tabuk.

The incident was described as ‘an attempted jihadist terror attack’ by Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz, which was ‘thwarted only thanks to the heroism of several Israeli passengers’.

This includes one, named by local media as Yaniv Hayun, who was called a ‘hero’ by Mr Netanyahu during a meeting as he arrived back in Tel Aviv.

Mr Hayun, who was wearing a blood-soaked T-shirt, embraced the Israeli PM before describing how he broke down the cockpit door and wrestled the alleged terrorist before taking over control of the plane – the skills of which he credits to his watching of TV show Air Disasters, which investigates notable aviation crises.