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Israel probes theory Flydubai pilot planned to crash into skyscraper — media

According to three separate sources cited by the newspaper, a 9/11-style attack is a major line of inquiry

LONDON, September 30. /TASS/. Israeli investigators examining the incident aboard a Flydubai plane traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv do not rule out that the pilot planned to crash into a skyscraper in Israel, The Telegraph reported, citing sources.

According to three separate sources cited by the newspaper, a 9/11-style attack is a major line of inquiry. On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four passenger planes in the United States: two crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York, a third hit the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to stop the hijackers.

"This is thought to be a 9/11 scenario where the co-pilot kills the pilot and crashes the plane inside of Israel with all the passengers, mostly Israelis," one source said.

Officials are unclear what the intended target might have been if the incident was a deliberate hijacking. However, more than one source identified a tower block in Tel Aviv as a possible target.

Incident

Earlier, the Flydubai passenger plane transmitted a hijacking alert. It later landed in Saudi Arabia. Flydubai’s press service told TASS that all passengers were safe. According to Israel’s Channel 12, a fight between the two pilots caused the incident. Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS reported, citing witnesses, that one of them had been stabbed. Israel’s Channel 14 later said that the pilots were from the UAE and Oman. According to its account, the Omani pilot caused the incident and may have deliberately tried to crash the plane. The second pilot, whom the channel identified as a UAE national, stopped him.

One of the leading theories currently being investigated is that one of the pilots attempted suicide, possibly with a terrorist motive. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described the incident aboard the plane as an attempted terrorist attack.

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