Security experts say an assailant with a plan and a knife, as alleged in Wednesday’s flight to Israel, shouldn’t have made it as far as the airport. The Fly Dubai pilot who stabbed his captain and sent the plane diving toward the ground slipped through one of the world’s tightest aviation-security nets. The route connecting the United Arab Emirates and Israel is one of the world’s most sensitive. The Middle East has a long history of hijackings and other attacks on civilian airliners. To counter attacks, both countries have some of the world’s most advanced surveillance technologies and capable spy networks. On top of that, air regulations have been repeatedly tightened following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. and the Germanwings Flight 9525 intentional crash in the French Alps. And yet on Wednesday a pilot was able to conceal his intentions, gain access to a knife, and put a plane carrying around 170 people into a dive so steep it nearly tore it apart in midair.
"This is 100% a major security failure," said Michael Horowitz, a security and geopolitical analyst who wrote a book about Israel’s future in the Middle East. "The question is how broad and how bad."
The answer will weigh on Israel’s air links to the world and the prospects of the U.A.E.’s core aviation and tourism businesses. Fly Dubai suspended its flights to Israel while the investigation continued. A number of international airlines already had suspended flights to both the U.A.E. and Israel for months because of the risks associated with the Iran war. Saudi officials initially assessed that the co-pilot tried to deliberately crash the plane after stabbing the pilot, people familiar with the matter said. They said they didn’t yet have a theory about why. The U.A.E. said Thursday it was investigating whether terrorism or some other motive played a role in the attack. If it does turn out to have been a terrorist act, "this would be the most significant terrorist plot involving a commercial passenger aircraft in recent years," aviation security firm Osprey Flight Solutions said in a report.
Fly Dubai didn’t respond to requests for comment. Aviation experts consider Dubai International Airport to have high security standards. It was consistently the world’s busiest for international travel and connected fliers from risky countries such as Afghanistan and Iran. It uses facial recognition to identify passengers and scans carry-on luggage coming in and out of the country. Pilots who have regularly flown from Dubai recounted strict searches through metal detectors that have led security staff to confiscate everything from selfie sticks to hair spray to cups of coffee. Air regulations ban all blades with sharp points and typically blunt knives longer than six centimeters.
"Dubai is high-spec and a key global hub. It compares well to many of the top airports in the world," Horowitz said. "But that doesn’t rule out insider jobs or a broader lapse in security."
An Israeli official said the country has long pressed Dubai airport officials to strengthen security for flights heading its way. It stopped its own airlines from flying between Dubai and Tel Aviv for several months this year amid worries about security gaps and the risks posed by the war against Iran. Israeli airlines typically follow stricter security protocols than foreign airlines flying the same routes. Starting Friday, Israeli airlines will begin operating limited rescue flights to bring out Israelis stuck in Dubai after Fly Dubai suspended service, according to Israel’s Ministry of Transportation. Israel’s flagship airline, El Al, said it wouldn’t allow passengers to bring checked or carry-on luggage at the instruction of security officials. Israel has also taken issue with security on foreign airlines. In May 2024, Israel’s comptroller published a classified report that found major problems with the security of flights to and from the country, including inadequate security at...
Source: Wall Street Journal US Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing