'Lone Wolf, Islamic Radical': Mossad Unit's Ex-Chief On flydubai Co-Pilot

Rami Igra, a former head of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad's MIA unit, has said there's "not much mystery" in the flydubai cockpit stabbing incident of September 30, claiming that "evidence so far" showed it wasn't just a hijacking attempt aimed at negotiations but possibly something worse. He called the attacker co-pilot, who's in Saudi Arabia's custody and has been identified so far by Israel as being from Oman, "a radicalised Muslim". Igra cited "later reports" to say leaflets supporting the "Palestinian cause in Israel" were found in his belongings, though evidence is awaited.

Igra also said it looked like a "lone wolf attack" so far, meaning a man acting on his own and not as part of a terror group. He did not share any evidence, but added, "If he was being directed by a terror group, that group needs to face the consequences."

He noted that so far it's clear that this co-pilot tried to take over the plane by attacking the pilot on the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight.

"If it weren't for the brave Indian pilot (Captain Smit Machchhar, who was stabbed) and the passengers, we would be looking at a horrible incident in which more than 180 people would have been dead," Igra told NDTV in an exclusive interview on Friday.

Asked about the context of an ongoing war with Iran, he said that the Iranians have said they have nothing to do with the attack, "and I believe this man was a lone wolf who has gone through Islamic radicalisation".

The co-pilot remains in Saudi Arabia's custody as the plane landed there after two off-duty pilots on the flight took over. He is likely to be sent to the UAE, from where Israel will seek his extradition as it's a rare Arab country with which Tel Aviv has formal diplomatic relations.

"You must know that Israel and Oman do not have bad relations... Though we do not have diplomatic relations with Oman," Rami Igra further said, citing past visits by Israel's leaders to the kingdom.

He said Oman as a country could not be blamed, and attributed the attacker's motive to his being "a devout Muslim" who followed radical interpretations of the Quran. "Religion is the only thing that can drive someone to commit suicide and take with him to his grave over 170 people," he said. Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu has also said the attackers seemed to want to commit a suicide bombing or crash.

READ | Omani Pilot Who Tried To Crash Plane Didn't Have Dual Citizenship: Report

Asked why Saudi Arabia and the UAE have not released details on the pilot, Rami Igra instead focused on what the situation could have been. He said what remains to be investigated is whether he planned to hit a major site in Israel, like 9/11, "and in that case it would have been a much graver situation".

He sought to draw a comparison with one of the flights hijacked on September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center in New York was hit. The flight he referred to was United Airlines Flight 93, "on which the passengers were reluctant to storm the cockpit, and when they did, it was late, and the flight crashed in Pennsylvania", leading to the death of 44 people, including four hijackers. Flight 93 was the only plane of the four hijacked in the 9/11 attack not to hit a target due to the actions of its passengers, though.

Igra further said that the incident leads to fears of "copycat attempts". This means, he said, that civil aviation security around the world will have to focus on the crew as well, and not just passengers.