The United Arab Emirate's president's diplomatic advisor, Anwar Gargash, said on Friday that the recent attempted hijacking of a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv was a "dangerous terrorist act."
Gargash said this while praising the Indian pilot of the flight, Capt. Smit Machchhar, who fought back against his Omani co-pilot and helped allow passengers into the cockpit and rescue the plane.
"He embodied the meaning of courage and responsibility in the face of a dangerous terrorist act and a potential disaster," Gargash wrote in a post on X/Twitter.
"His professionalism and moral sense in the darkest of circumstances make him a true hero."
Gargash also cautioned that vigilance was essential to confronting future possible acts of extremism and terrorism, and warned against promoting conspiracy theories about the attack.
Netanyahu says hijacking had potential to be a disaster on 'scale of 9/11'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave an update on the incident on Friday, characterizing the attempted hijacking as a potential "disaster on the scale of 9/11."
Regarding the Omani hijacker-pilot, Netanyahu said he "underwent Islamist radicalization."
"He intended to crash the plane with all its passengers on board," Netanyahu said in a post on X. "We are now investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price.”
Passengers return to Israel after attempted flydubai hijacking
One hundred and seventy-four Israeli passengers were returned to Ben-Gurion Airport Tuesday evening after multiple passengers helped restrain the Omani hijacker-pilot who attempted to crash the airplane earlier in the day.
The passengers were initially on a flydubai commercial passenger aircraft flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, but then the pilot-hijacker, who was the deputy pilot for the flight, stabbed the lead pilot and tried to crash the aircraft before as many as four passengers wounded him and tied him up.
An additional flight crew member on board was then able to handle landing the plane in Saudi Arabia, though the original pilot, Machchhar, was in critical condition, having been stabbed repeatedly by the Omani pilot.