Until copilot Hamam al-Hammami attacked Indian captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit crash axe, causing the plane to drop thousands of feet in a few seconds, most of us had never even heard of flydubai, the Emirates' budget airline, which sends its fleet of 737's to airports in dozens of countries within 7 hours' flying time of Dubai.
Here are some questions that would immediately come to mind upon hearing about this near-catastrophe:
1. What is flydubai?
Flydubai is the state-owned budget airlines of the United Arab Emirates, based in Dubai and with there-and-back flights to over 100 destination cities in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. They exclusively use various models of the Boeing 737. They were the first airline to offer service to Israel's only international airport in Tel Aviv, beginning in 2020, and have kept up daily flights all through the Gaza War.
2. Why were Israelis flying on an Arab airline with a Muslim in the cockpit?
Well, primarily because it was so cheap, and also because Muslim pilots only go into jihadi mode on extremely rare occasions. Of course, being a budget airline meant the flydubai tended to take whomever they could get, and when an Omani pilot who'd been kicked off his own national carrier for his jihadist views applied to work for them, they apparently didn't think much of it, and hired him anyway. It's especially concerning that they sent an Omani national on a flight to Israel; Israel doesn't recognize Omani passports, so citizens of that country are generally prohibited from traveling to Israel, even as airline pilots.
Another major reason for the use of an Arab airline was that El Al, Israel's national carrier, had suspended flights to Dubai due to concerns over terrorism. That moratorium has since been lifted, for obvious reasons.
3. How were passengers able to storm the cockpit, with all the precautions in place to secure it?
Now, that's an interesting question. As I have stated before, there's a fine line between securing the cockpit from a madman OUTSIDE of it, and securing the cockpit from a madman INSIDE it, and this was one case where the two perfectly balanced; Captain Machchhar, while bleeding out, was just barely able to open the locked door to allow his rescuers to enter.
4. Why don't most news stories mention the pilot's name?
It's basically a matter of journalistic policy. Neither the airline nor any of the three governments involved have publicly released the jihadist's name, so news outlets are reluctant to mention it. There's also a desire not to give the bad guy any publicity, that could be enough to tip the scales in the direction of anonymity.
5. Why did the secondary crew fly the aircraft on to Tel Aviv, diverting instead to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia?
The clearest answer is that, had flight 1073 continued into Israeli airspace, it would have been shot down, because the transponder was broadcasting the signal that indicated it had been highjacked. Hammami's stated intent was to crash the plane, and the IDF wasn't about to take any chances. Tabuk was a regular destination of flydubai, so it was a natural choice once the secondary flight crew (riding along because they were scheduled to fly the plane back to Dubai) took control.
Also, the pilot was on the verge of succumbing to his injuries by the time the plane landed; being diverted from Tel Aviv while security officials assessed the situation could have been enough to kill him. And, the high-speed dive had damaged the plane's tail section, and the would-be axe murderer had turned his weapon on the instrument panel, making a quick landing all the more imperative.
6. Does being arrested in Tabuk mean that the jihadist copilot will escape prosecution?
No, because the Saudis immediately sent him back to the Emirates, he won't be eligible for hero status in the Guardian of the Two Sanctuaries. Dubai will no doubt prosecute him, and at least this way he won't be available to use as a bargaining chip for the release of Israeli citizen hostages, as would have been the case in Israel, which still has no death penalty, even for mass murderers.
7. Did the plane landing in the Saudi Kingdom complicate repatriation of the Israeli passengers?
It sure did! Saudi Arabia doesn't recognize Israeli passports, so for the 150 Israeli citizens on board, it was probably the first time they'd ever set foot in that country. In order to get them to Israel, flydubai had to send a couple of their own planes out to pick them up, presumably returning to Dubai enroute as flights between Saudi Arabia and Israel are still prohibited.
