The prosecutor said last week's flight had been the co-pilot's third to Tel Aviv, and that he had used the two earlier trips to plan the attack. (EPA Images pic)DUBAI: The co-pilot who attacked the captain of a flydubai jet last week had planned to crash the plane into Tel Aviv's international airport, the UAE top prosecutor said on Friday.
In the aftermath of the incident, people on board -- the majority of whom were Israeli -- described a sudden plunge in altitude and a fight for control of the aircraft, which was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The passengers were repatriated on a second flydubai flight hours later.
The unnamed Omani co-pilot, now in custody in the UAE, had drawn inspiration from Al-Qaeda's Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the US, and carried out his attempt "with the aim of causing the greatest possible loss of life", according to the Emirati prosecutor's findings published by state media.
