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Israel received no intelligence information or warning about a threat related to the Flydubai flight incident. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this in an interview with CNN.
Operative Information Center-OMM reports that Netanyahu said in the interview that there was extensive information about Iran-backed forces, Hezbollah and Hamas planning attacks against Israel and Israeli citizens abroad. However, he said, no priority warning was issued specifically about this incident.
In an interview with Fox News, the prime minister said the pilot who attacked the aircraft was being questioned in Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu added that the pilot would later be taken to the United Arab Emirates, where the flight had originated. Israel would closely monitor the investigation and take an active part in it if possible, he said.
Netanyahu earlier met Yaniv Hayon, a passenger who subdued the armed pilot at Ben Gurion Airport. The prime minister embraced Hayon, who appeared before him wearing a bloodstained shirt. Netanyahu said that when asked how he had subdued the pilot and recovered control of the aircraft during a sharp descent, Hayon replied: “I just had to do it.”
The incident occurred on the morning of Sept. 30. During the flight, the aircraft lost altitude sharply and first transmitted the 7700 emergency code, followed by code 7500, used when an aircraft is suspected of being hijacked.
Codes 7700 and 7500 are internationally recognized aviation transponder signals. The former indicates a general emergency, while the latter alerts air traffic controllers to a suspected hijacking.
