Early indications suggest Flydubai co-pilot acted alone in attack, officials say

TEL AVIV — Early indications suggest the Flydubai co-pilot accused of attacking his captain and trying to seize control of an Israel-bound plane acted alone, rather than as part of a larger organization or on behalf of a foreign government, multiple U.S. officials briefed on the investigation and a former Israeli security official told NBC News.

The U.S. officials cautioned that the investigation into Wednesday’s midair attack remains at an early stage.

“The assessment is that he operated alone. Right now, it looks like a case of ‘lone wolf’ terrorism inspired by content found online,” said Shalom Ben Hanan, a former official in the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency.

“We still need to wait for the final investigation results to determine whether an organization or a state is behind it,” he added.

Emirati authorities, who are leading the investigation, said Saturday that the co-pilot attacked the captain with a crash ax and attempted to take control of the aircraft’s flight controls in an attempted terrorist attack.

The flight was carrying 174 mostly Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv. A crash was averted when crew members and passengers entered the cockpit and subdued the attacker, according to eyewitnesses and…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world