Flydubai co-pilot attacked pilot with axe, UAE says
The UAE government has officially classified the recent mid-air attack on a Flydubai flight as a terrorist act. Authorities are investigating the motives of the Omani co-pilot who used a cockpit crash axe to attempt to seize control of the aircraft.
Why it matters
The official designation of the incident as terrorism elevates the geopolitical implications and may lead to stricter international aviation security protocols.
The co-pilot of a FlyDubai plane who attacked the flight's captain with an axe this week was attempting a terrorist attack, the United Arab Emirates said Saturday.
"The co-pilot began executing his plan during the flight, attacking the captain inside the flight deck using a crash axe and attempting to take control of the aircraft," UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said in a post on X titled: "Planning and attempted terrorist act behind flydubai flight FZ1073 incident."
Anwar Gargash, senior advisor to the UAE's president, said the region's "struggle with extremism persists, and justifying terrorism through hate speech is part of the danger, not its margins."
"The latest terrorist operation is a new warning that the confrontation has not ended," Gargash said in a post on X.
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