Israel was ready to shoot down flydubai flight, scrambled jets before calling them off — report

Israeli sources tell CBS News that Israel was ready to shoot down flydubai Flight 1073 with all passengers onboard after the Omani copilot attacked the captain, scrambling fighter jets before calling them off as the plane went to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

The sources say that as part of a protocol for a potential 9/11-style incident, the Israeli Air Force sought to contact the cockpit after the plane made a sharp plunge, but didn’t receive an answer. A committee formed in advanced was then swiftly convened and a command center was set up, as fighter jets were scrambled and Israel closed its airspace, according to the report.

The warplanes were called back however once Israel realized that they plane was turning to Saudi Arabia, which had scrambled its own fighter jets.

The sources add that if the flight got closer, Israel would have dispatched planes into Jordan’s airspace to investigate. The IAF pilots would have then sought to get as close to the cockpit as they could in an effort to establish visual contact and size up the situation, before doing likewise for the cabin to determine if there was any panic among the passengers.

After checking in on the plane, the IAF would update the committee, which the sources say would in turn contact the defense minister and prime minister if the plane had been hijacked and the terrorists weren’t responding. Ultimately, the decision to shoot down the plane would rest with the prime minister, an outcome the sources quoted by CBS News say would’ve been preferable than having it crash into Ben Gurion Airport, the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv or another “high-value target.”