UAE Calls FlyDubai Cockpit Attack Terrorism as Report Says Airline Never Checked With Oman Before Hiring Co-Pilot

Since the Sept. 30 attack aboard FlyDubai Flight 1073 nearly destroyed a jet carrying more than 170 people between Dubai and Tel Aviv, investigators have already confirmed the Omani co-pilot told them he meant to crash the plane. The UAE government has publicly branded the incident terrorism, and reporting shows FlyDubai never checked with the airline that grounded the suspect two years earlier.

Anwar Gargash, a senior diplomatic adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, called the attack a "terrorist act" on Friday, Oct. 2, according to Breitbart. It was the first time a senior Emirati official used that word publicly. Gargash praised Capt. Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot who was stabbed in the cockpit, writing on X that he "embodied the true meaning of courage and responsibility."

Gargash also cautioned against getting ahead of the facts. "While avoiding interpretations or promoting conspiracy theories, vigilance and caution remain essential in confronting the dangers of extremism and terrorism," he wrote, according to Breitbart. A UAE spokesperson separately declined to discuss the co-pilot's history in Oman, saying doing so could "prejudge the outcome of the investigation."

The hiring gap

According to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to Fox News, Oman Air grounded the co-pilot in 2024 after discovering he had been visiting radical Islamic websites. The same source told Fox News the man later moved to Dubai that year and that his mother is from Syria. FlyDubai never checked with Oman Air before hiring him, the source said.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, that it remains unclear whether Omani officials ever shared their concerns about the co-pilot with other countries or airlines, according to Breitbart's coverage of that reporting. FlyDubai and the Omani government did not respond to requests for comment, Breitbart reported.

The gap raises a question: should cross-border background checks between airlines and regulators be mandatory when a pilot moves between carriers in different countries? Right now, nothing in the reporting suggests such a requirement exists in the Gulf aviation market, and TIME magazine's reporting on the incident raises the same question more broadly, asking what screening commercial pilots worldwide actually go through to rule out instability or extremist ties.

What's proven, what's alleged

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the co-pilot "underwent Islamist radical indoctrination" and "came to crash the plane along with its passengers," according to Breitbart. But Netanyahu has also repeatedly stressed that investigators have not established whether the man acted alone or at someone else's direction. "We are clarifying right now," he said, according to Breitbart's translation of his video statement.

President Donald Trump said Thursday, Oct. 1, that the co-pilot might be linked to Iran "based on what I'm hearing," according to TIME and CNN, but he did not provide any supporting details. That remains an unproven allegation, not a confirmed fact. No criminal charges have been publicly announced against the suspect, who was transferred from Saudi custody to the UAE on Oct. 1 for continued investigation, according to CNN.

A separate, unverified account adds color but not proof. The Daily Wire reported that an anonymous colleague of the co-pilot, cited by Israeli journalist Yosef Yisrael, described the man as someone who prayed frequently and refused to shake hands with women. The colleague was quoted saying, "There is no other way to put it, we hired the services of a terrorist and nearly caused the deaths of 180 people." That is one anonymous source's characterization, not an established fact, and the Daily Wire's own article notably ties the story to the promotion of its original film "Run Hide Fight: Infidels," a commercial tie-in that readers should weigh when evaluating that outlet's framing.

The strongest counterpoint

Hiring failures like this one are not unique to FlyDubai or the Gulf region. Airlines worldwide rely heavily on self-reported employment history and home-country security clearances, and aviation security analysts have long warned that a pilot grounded by one carrier for ideological concerns rather than a criminal conviction may not trigger any formal flag in a shared international database. Absent evidence that FlyDubai ignored a specific warning it received and chose to hire the man anyway, this appears to be a systemic screening gap rather than proof of institutional negligence by FlyDubai specifically.

What's confirmed: the plane dove more than 14,000 feet in 30 seconds after the attack began at 5:21 a.m. local time, according to FlightRadar24 data cited by TIME. Capt. Machchhar managed to transmit emergency codes and unlock the cockpit door before passengers, aided by two off-duty reserve pilots who happened to be aboard, regained control and landed the aircraft in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

The open question going forward is whether Israeli, Emirati, or Omani investigators will produce evidence tying the co-pilot to a foreign state or organization, or whether the case ends as a self-radicalized individual acting alone. Netanyahu's government has signaled it expects answers soon, saying only that "the picture becomes clearer" as the investigation continues.