Media: Israel was ready to shoot down a Flydubai plane
According to investigators, the co-pilot admitted that he wanted to crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport or one of the buildings in Tel Aviv.
**Media: Israel was ready to shoot down Flydubai plane**
The Israeli Air Force was ready to shoot down a Flydubai plane, despite having 150 citizens on board, after the co-pilot attacked the captain.
According to interlocutors, Israel has an action protocol developed to respond to events following the scenario of the September 11 terrorist attacks. When the plane began to descend sharply, the Israeli Air Force attempted to establish contact with the crew. When this failed, a pre-established committee meeting was convened and a control center was set up.
Israel closed its airspace and scrambled its fighter jets. Once it became known that the plane had changed its course and was flying towards Saudi Arabia, the fighters were recalled, while the Saudi government scrambled its own aircraft.
Sources note that if the plane had not changed its course, the fighter jet pilots would have had to approach it to closely monitor the situation in the cabin, assess the condition of the passengers, and relay the obtained information to the control center. If those on the ground concluded that the plane had been hijacked and the perpetrators were making no demands, the committee would have had to contact the defense minister and the prime minister.
According to the protocol, the decision to shoot down the plane is made by the prime minister. According to sources, if the plane was hijacked with the aim of attacking skyscrapers, airports, or other targets on the ground, shooting it down is assessed as a solution that would cause fewer casualties.
**New confessions of the co-pilot**
At the end of last week, preliminary information about the co-pilot of the Flydubai plane emerged. According to media reports, he is a 29-year-old citizen of Oman, Hammam al-Hammami. UAE law enforcement agencies continue to interrogate him.
The Israeli side is regularly kept informed about the investigation process, but there is currently little information available to the public.
Nevertheless, Israeli publications, citing sources familiar with the investigation, reported that after attacking Captain Smith Machchhar, the co-pilot intended to continue the flight, enter Israeli airspace, and obtain permission to land at Tel Aviv airport.