The axe-wielding co-pilot who attacked the captain of a FlyDubai flight to Tel Aviv last month planned to seize the plane and crash it into the passenger terminal at Israel's main airport, UAE authorities revealed Friday.
The co-pilot attacked the captain mid-flight. The captain survived, the plane landed, and investigators now say the terminal-ramming plan was real — a 9/11-style plot stopped by a locked door and a fighting pilot.
Post-9/11 cockpit doors exist for exactly this scenario, and this time they worked. But the incident will rattle crews and regulators: the threat came from inside the cockpit — the one place the system assumes is safe.
Sources: CBC News. Context from the Young Hadene newsroom.
To seize control and fly the jet into Ben Gurion Airport's passenger terminal, per UAE authorities.
The captain fought back and the reinforced cockpit setup held.