The Omani co-pilot accused of attacking Flydubai captain Smit Machchhar during a flight to Israel had previously been identified as a security risk while working with Oman Air, according to senior intelligence and law enforcement officials cited by ABC News.
Sources told the outlet that the suspect was found with extremist material while he was a trainee co-pilot in 2024. The suspect was suspended by Oman Air after officials identified him as a security concern in 2024, according to ABC News. The flight was carrying 182 people, according to The Associated Press.
The suspect’s name has not been publicly released.
He was later allowed to work in an administrative role, the sources said. Sources said extremist materials were found in his possession during that period. The sources said he was not removed completely from the airline and instead continued working in an administrative position. Machchhar later told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he knew the aircraft was going down and managed to open the cockpit door while injured. I told myself that the door is right there, just open it. I managed to do it and people entered,” he said, according to Reuters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the suspect as having undergone “Islamist radicalization” and said authorities were examining whether someone else had directed him.
The aircraft then went into a steep descent. “I knew that the aircraft was going down … I had fallen to the ground. Passengers then entered the cockpit and helped restrain the suspect. The aircraft was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely. His comments are part of the ongoing investigation and do not by themselves establish the suspect’s motive or any outside involvement.
Officials are now looking into what happened between that earlier security concern and his later employment with Flydubai. He was transferred from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday and is cooperating with investigators, according to sources cited by ABC News.
