UAE orders probe into Flydubai cockpit stabbing incident on Israel-bound flight
Speaking to PTI Videos in New Delhi, Azar said Israel’s civil aviation authorities, air force and political leadership were immediately alerted after the aircraft reported an emergency.
He said the situation was assessed as a potential threat given Israel’s small geographical size and the possibility of an aircraft reaching its territory within seconds. “Of course, immediately fighter jets were called into the air and fortunately, they didn’t have to take action,” Azar said. “They had assessed the situation, and if the pilot and the crew members and the passengers wouldn’t have taken control of the plane, there could have been a situation in which the Prime Minister of Israel may have had to make a decision on the action to be taken,” he said, without elaborating.
The envoy indicated that the situation could have escalated into a decision involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had the passengers and crew failed to regain control of the aircraft. NEW DELHI: Israel scrambled fighter jets after a Dubai-Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai aircraft transmitted emergency signals amid an alleged attempt by its co-pilot to crash the plane, but the warplanes did not have to take action as passengers and crew managed to regain control and land safely in Saudi Arabia, Israeli envoy to India Reuven Azar said on Thursday.
He said Machchhar had received appreciation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, the speaker of the Parliament and people across Israel for his actions. He saved so many lives,” Azar said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said it was too early to determine whether Iran had any involvement in the incident.
“So, we had here people, first of all, the Indian captain who has been really admired in Israel, both by the Prime Minister, the President, the head of the Parliament and the entire Israeli people for what he did. He indicated that Israel could participate in the investigation.