The Attorney General of the United Arab Emirates officially confirmed on Saturday reports that the terrorist aboard the Flydubai flight intended to crash the commercial aircraft into Ben Gurion Airport. A catastrophic mass-casualty disaster was averted by what officials described as an immense miracle, credited entirely to the extraordinary resourcefulness displayed by the pilot and passengers who subdued the perpetrator and regained control of the aircraft.
According to the official announcement by the UAE Attorney General, the terrorist, an Omani national, explicitly confessed during interrogation that he acted alone without external organizational assistance. The UAE’s official state news agency reported that investigative questioning revealed he had previously taken two preliminary flights to Tel Aviv to scout aerial flight paths and analyze the layout of the airport grounds.
UAE investigative authorities suspect the perpetrator drew inspiration for the murderous plot directly from the September 11 terror attacks in the United States. Thanks to the heightened vigilance and rapid intervention of the aircrew and passengers, the catastrophic attack was thwarted, and the airliner landed safely.