A Flydubai co-pilot accused of attacking his captain with an axe during a flight studied at a university in the United Kingdom, according to Sky News. The incident occurred on a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv service, flight 1073, and has been described by a UAE official as an attack by the co-pilot on the captain, the BBC reports.
Accounts of what happened differ. Reuters, citing Israel, reports that passengers stopped an attempt to bring down the aircraft after the co-pilot stabbed the pilot. Sky News describes the episode as a suspected terrorist attack. The Guardian reports that the motive remains unclear, with speculation centering on whether the act was terrorism or an attempt at suicide by plane.
The captain later gave his own account of the struggle to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling him, "I gave everything that I had," according to The Jerusalem Post.
The co-pilot's link to a UK university is among the details reported by Sky News as authorities continue to examine the case. The flight had been travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the violence broke out.
Investigators have not publicly settled on a motive, and the competing descriptions from Israeli and UAE officials leave key questions open. Further official statements on the co-pilot's background and the cause of the attack are expected to clarify the sequence of events.
