Israeli officials expected to question copilot who attempted to crash flydubai flight, source says

Israeli officials are expected to question the copilot who allegedly attempted to crash a commercial passenger flight from Dubai bound for Tel Aviv, according to a source briefed on the investigation.

The copilot was transferred on Thursday to the UAE, where the source says Israeli officials were expected to question him.

The source declines to say which Israeli agency or authority would take part in the questioning.

Asked whether Israeli officials would question the copilot, an Israeli government official tells Reuters that Israeli investigators would take part in the UAE-led investigation alongside Emirati authorities, seeking to determine what happened and examine the suspect’s motives and background.

The UAE foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Israeli officials would question the copilot.

The UAE state news agency reported on Thursday that Emirati authorities had opened an investigation seeking to establish the circumstances and motives and determine “whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose, or involved prior planning or direction.”

Anwar Gargash, an adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, described the attempted crashing of a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv as an “act of terrorism,” in a post to X today.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.