The Omani co-pilot accused of trying to hijack an Israel-bound plane carrying 174 people mused about killing Jews online, according to an Israeli official.
The co-pilot, who has not been named publicly, is accused of attacking his Indian lead pilot in the cockpit on the flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday before trying to down the aircraft.
Authorities are investigating any possible connection to terrorist activity or intent but an Israeli official signaled that the aviator could have been targeting Jews.
“This was a person who was willing to commit suicide,” the official told the Times of Israel.
“His social media accounts [say] clearly that he has been radicalized into jihadist ideology.
“He talks about killing Jews.”
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the co-pilot “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination before stabbing the lead pilot in the cockpit some two and a half hours into the flight.
A colleague of the co-pilot has also since claimed the staffer, who had only been working for the airline for little under a year, was a religious extremist — describing how he refused to shake women’s hands.
