Flydubai Flight Passengers Recognized as Victims of Terror

About a month after the attempted attack on the Flydubai flight, during which the co-pilot assaulted the captain and the plane began to dive, the Defense Ministry announced today (Monday) that the incident has been officially recognized as a hostile act. The decision means that passengers injured in the incident are recognized as victims of hostile actions. The decision was passed on to the National Insurance Institute, which is in contact with those injured in order to continue handling their cases.

In a statement released by the Defense Ministry, it was reported: “Upon receiving official confirmation from the authorized investigative bodies in the State of Israel, the approving authority at the Defense Ministry has recognized the attempted attack on the ‘Flydubai’ flight as a hostile act. The decision of the approving authority has been passed on to the National Insurance Institute, which is in contact with those injured, for further handling.”

The attempted attack took place on October 1, on Flydubai flight FZ1073, which carried more than 170 passengers. During the flight, the co-pilot attacked the captain, and the plane began to lose altitude. Several Israeli passengers, among them Yaniv Hayon, stepped in to try to prevent a disaster. They managed to restrain the co-pilot and even pulled on the controls while the plane was diving, until another pilot took command of the aircraft. Hayon later recounted that he acted based on things he had seen in a television series about air accidents.

Following the incident and the failures it exposed, Israel decided to tighten security procedures on flights entering the country. Under the new guidelines issued by the National Passenger Screening Center at the Tax Authority, airlines will be required to transmit information about crew members scheduled to fly to Israel at least 48 hours before takeoff.