UAE shares passenger, crew list of flydubai flight with Israel
What's the story
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has shared the passenger and crew list of a flydubai flight with Israel. This comes after an attempted hijacking incident on a flight headed to Tel Aviv. The co-pilot, an Omani national, had previously been banned from flying by Oman over concerns of extremism. The investigation into the incident is still underway, but preliminary findings have revealed major security lapses.
Security concerns
Co-pilot attacks captain with crash ax
The UAE, which is leading the probe, said the co-pilot attacked the captain with a crash ax in what they termed a "terrorist attack."
The Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to subdue the attacker and prevent a crash.
Israeli officials are now questioning the security protocols that allowed this incident to happen.
Protocol scrutiny
Israeli officials question security protocols
The Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, said the Transportation Ministry should vet passenger lists from foreign flights.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev argued that her ministry wasn't given any warning or list of passengers by security agencies.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke about Israel's agreements with foreign carriers.
Diplomatic agreements
Prime Minister Netanyahu on foreign carrier agreements
Netanyahu said these agreements are meant to prevent pilots from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel from flying into the country.
However, it remains unclear how flydubai missed this security risk while operating flights between Israel and the UAE.
Philip Baum, an aviation security expert from Coventry University, spoke about the limitations of background checks.
He said these checks differ by country and there are limits on what information can be shared.