Two Maldivians Questioned in UAE Over FlyDubai Cockpit Attack
Two Maldivian nationals were questioned over FlyDubai flight cockpit attack. | Photo: FlyDubai
United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities have questioned two Maldivian nationals employed by FlyDubai as part of a terrorism investigation into a violent mid-flight cockpit attack aboard flight FZ1073, bound for Tel Aviv, Israel, from Dubai, Maldivian Government Spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef confirmed.
He stated that the questioning of the two Maldivians forms part of a broader investigation in which UAE law enforcement is interviewing a large number of FlyDubai staff members. Authorities are interrogating all personnel who had prior contact with Hamam Al-Hammami, the Omani co-pilot allegedly involved in the terrorist plot.
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“The only information available at this time is that the two individuals were questioned,” Mohamed Hussain Shareef told MV+, confirming that neither Maldivian national has been arrested or charged in connection with the crime.
Disaster was narrowly averted on Wednesday when passengers and crew intervened to prevent the co-pilot from seizing control of the flight deck, as reported by The Guardian. Carrying 182 passengers and crew members, the aircraft entered a steep dive, plummeting 16,625 feet in just over 30 seconds, an extreme manoeuvre that exerted enough aerodynamic stress to tear off a section of the tail rudder.
The flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where Saudi authorities arrested Al-Hammami and subsequently extradited him to the UAE to face terrorism charges led by the UAE prosecution.
