An Omani co-pilot who allegedly attempted to seize control of an Israel-bound passenger jet was on a radical Islamist suicide mission to crash the aircraft and murder all 174 people aboard, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday.
According to the New York Post, the unnamed co-pilot underwent Islamist radical indoctrination before turning on his Indian captain in the cockpit of a flydubai flight traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Netanyahu told Fox & Friends. The prime minister said the assailant was overpowered and restrained with a headphone cord by superhero passengers, only to begin pleading with the crew to kill me, kill me once he was subdued.
So its clear he was suicidal, Netanyahu said. Thats not a question. It was clear he was going to down that plane. The captain suffered severe injuries in the struggle, with Netanyahu recounting that the pilot was stabbed in the head and that his arm was basically split in two during the midair attack roughly 2.5 hours into the journey.
At the time of the assault, the aircraft was cruising at about 34,000 feet before it plunged some 17,000 feet in just two minutes over the Saudi Arabian desert, according to Israeli media reports. Netanyahu praised the quick-thinking Israeli passengers who became superheroes by rushing the cockpit, saving the wounded pilot, overpowering the suspected terrorist, and helping ensure the jet landed safely.
This is Hollywood on steroids you cant make this up, you cant believe that it actually happened in real life, but it did, the Israeli leader said. For many in Israel and across the West, the episode underscores both the ongoing threat of Islamist extremism to civilian aviation and the vital role of courageous individuals who refuse to be passive victims in the face of terror.
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