Investigators examining last week's midair assault aboard a FlyDubai passenger jet have concluded that the co-pilot who seized the controls intended to fly the aircraft into Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to NPR.
The finding marks a significant turn in a case that began as a report of a violent struggle inside a cockpit and has now grown into what appears to be an attempted mass-casualty attack on one of the Middle East's busiest aviation hubs.
The flight, operated by the Dubai-based carrier FlyDubai, was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv and was scheduled to touch down at Ben Gurion during the busy midmorning window on a weekday. The timing would have placed the plane on approach at one of the airport's peak arrival periods, when terminals and surrounding roads are typically crowded with travelers.
According to the account provided to NPR, the co-pilot turned on the flight's captain during the journey, attacking him with an axe before attempting to take command of the aircraft. The struggle unfolded at altitude, with the captain and co-pilot reportedly fighting over control of the plane.
The investigation's central conclusion—that the attacker meant to drive the jet into the airport rather than simply divert or disable it—elevates the incident from an in-flight disturbance to a suspected act of terrorism aimed at Israel's primary international gateway. Ben Gurion, located near the city of Lod, handles the overwhelming majority of commercial passenger traffic into and out of Israel and is guarded by extensive layers of security on the ground.
Despite those defenses, the alleged plan appears to have targeted the aircraft itself as the weapon. A passenger jet flown deliberately into an airport terminal or runway complex would pose a threat that ground-based security screening is not designed to stop, since the danger would originate from inside an already-airborne, already-cleared aircraft.
Much about the episode remains unresolved. The person who spoke to NPR described the inquiry as ongoing, and the precise motive behind the attack has not been publicly established. Investigators have not disclosed what, if anything, the co-pilot said or did that pointed to a specific ideological or organizational affiliation, and it is not yet clear whether authorities believe he acted alone or with some form of outside encouragement.
The incident has also raised immediate questions about cockpit security and crew vetting in commercial aviation. Cockpit doors on modern airliners are reinforced and locked from the inside, but the standard design presumes a threat coming from the cabin—not from a uniformed crew member already seated at the controls beside the pilot. A co-pilot who turns violent midflight essentially bypasses the barrier that protects the flight deck.
That gap is not new to aviation security specialists. The 2015 crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, in which a co-pilot deliberately flew an airliner into the French Alps after locking the captain out of the cockpit, prompted airlines worldwide to review their mental health screening and cockpit-occupancy rules. Many carriers responded by requiring two crew members to be present on the flight deck whenever one pilot leaves. The FlyDubai case appears to differ in a crucial respect: rather than exploiting a moment alone, the attacker allegedly assaulted the captain directly while both were present.
The fact that the plane was on a route to Tel Aviv adds another layer of sensitivity. Flights bound for Israel operate under heightened security protocols, and Israeli authorities have long treated aviation as a preferred target for hostile actors. The disclosure that the apparent objective was to strike Ben Gurion itself is likely to intensify scrutiny of approach corridors and the procedures used to identify threats before an aircraft reaches Israeli airspace.
For FlyDubai, a low-cost carrier owned by the government of Dubai and closely tied to Emirates, the episode presents a serious reputational and operational challenge. The airline has not yet publicly addressed the investigation's reported finding that its own crew member sought to crash one of its planes.
The captain's condition and the extent of his injuries have not been detailed in the account provided to NPR, nor is it clear how the struggle was ultimately brought under control. One published image from the aftermath showed a passenger raising his arms in relief while walking through domestic arrivals doors at Ben Gurion with his dog and luggage on Sept. 30, the day the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia following the violent altercation in the cockpit.
That diversion to Saudi Arabia is itself notable, given the Kingdom's relationship with Israel and the rarity of Israeli-bound commercial traffic being routed there under emergency circumstances. It suggests the situation aboard the aircraft was judged serious enough that the crew or authorities opted to put the plane on the ground as quickly as possible rather than continue toward Tel Aviv.
Israeli officials have not released a full public accounting of the investigation, and it remains unclear what charges, if any, the co-pilot faces or where he is being held. Details about the passenger manifest, the number of people aboard, and the sequence of events inside the cockpit in the final minutes before the diversion have also not been made public.
What is now established, based on the source familiar with the matter, is the investigative conclusion about intent: the man at the controls of the FlyDubai jet did not intend merely to seize the aircraft or to force a change of destination. He intended to crash it into Ben Gurion International Airport.
As the inquiry continues, the case is likely to feed into broader debates about insider threats in commercial aviation, the limits of cockpit fortification, and how airlines and regulators assess the psychological fitness of the people entrusted with passenger lives. It also underscores a uncomfortable reality for security planners: the most heavily guarded airport in a country can still be vulnerable if the weapon is a plane that has already been cleared to land.
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