New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) : With the Omani pilot found standing over the cockpit controls trying to destroy the aircraft’s systems while attacking Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, the attempt to bring down a Flydubai flight on Wednesday seemed similar to the September 11 attacks in the United States, Israeli Prime Minister’s spokesperson David Mencer said on Thursday.
“That’s what it certainly looks like. This could have been very similar to 9/11. There is a detail that may have been missed. When an Israeli passenger and a crew member managed to get into the cockpit, they found that the Omani pilot was not sitting in the pilot’s seat. He was standing over the controls and appeared to be trying to sabotage the controls and destroy the aircraft’s control systems while attacking the brave Indian pilot. Let’s be clear: this man wanted to bring down the aircraft. You cannot help but make the comparison between 9/11 and this attack,” Mencer told IANS in an exclusive interview.
The Israeli PM’s spokesperson did not rule out the possibility of attack being the handiwork of Hamas or Hezbollah – or having any Iranian connection – but added that it is too early to declare anything as detailed investigations are still on.
“We understand that the Omani pilot is being questioned by the Saudi authorities and that he will be transferred to the UAE. There will be a full investigation into precisely what his associations were… But the message that should come out of this incident is that we don’t need to be victims of terrorism,” Mencer mentioned.
He noted that, two days before the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned that Iran and “the terrorist organisations it funds” were trying to disrupt Israel’s election process.
“Just the day before this attack, the Prime Minister was warning the public that we knew there were terrorist threats,” said Mencer, adding that Israel was on heightened alert with the elections only 27 days away.
The spokesperson said there had been a serious lapse in security. “Perhaps because he was a pilot, he was not subject to certain checks. But either way, when the Israeli passenger and a crew member entered the cockpit, they found the Omani pilot with some sort of knife or axe in his hands. He was not only attacking the Indian pilot but was also trying to destroy the aircraft’s systems. So clearly, there has been a security lapse,” Mencer said.
Israel and the UAE have instituted a six-day freeze on flights between the two countries to investigate the incident and ensure there are no follow-up attacks, he added.
“What the Israeli passengers and crew, together with the Indian pilot, did was to wrestle control of the plane back from the Omani pilot and bring the incident to a safe conclusion,” Mencer mentioned.
