The pilot suspected of having attacked another pilot aboard a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight on Wednesday was removed from a previous job at Oman’s national airline last year following concerns about his extremist views, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
A regional diplomatic source familiar with the matter told CNN the suspect was removed from training because of concerns he had radical views. The source said he was given another role at the airline.
The pilot is an Omani citizen, another source said. He was born in the United Arab Emirates to an Omani father and Syrian mother and has spent several years of his life in the UAE, they added. An Israeli official also confirmed his identity.
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The suspect has been transferred from Saudi Arabia, where the plane landed, to the UAE, where he faces a terrorism investigation. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the suspect was believed to have undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination.”
An Israeli official told CNN the suspect had worked for Flydubai for only eight months. A third source said the alleged assailant had previously worked for Royal Air Maroc.
The revelations are likely to raise concerns about the importance of background checks in aviation hiring.
CNN has reached out to Oman Air, Royal Air Maroc and the Dubai government’s media office for comment.
Flydubai said it could not provide comment while the incident remained under investigation.
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The new details leave unexplained how a citizen of Oman, which does not recognize Israel, was permitted to serve as a pilot on a flight to Tel Aviv, despite Israel’s stringent aviation security measures.
An Israeli official told CNN on Wednesday that several Israeli agencies – including Shin Bet, Mossad, the military and the Transportation Ministry – were investigating how the Omani pilot came to be part of the flight crew.
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