Is terrorism now directly infiltrating airline cockpits?

The Flydubai attack may be linked to a far wider network as, on Saturday October 10, two Maldivian pilots working for the airline were arrested by UAE authorities on suspicion of planning a terror attack, as reported by the news site Adhadhu which also added that the two pilots previously flew to Israel.

Moreover, new disturbing information regarding the attempted hijacking of Flydubai flight 1073 emerged as passenger Assaf Rajuan called for the investigation of two flight attendants who were on board the plane, as well as for the two additional pilots who were traveling and who landed the aircraft in Saudi Arabia to be questioned.

According to his account to the Jerusalem Post, crew members tried to loosen the terrorist’s restraints, stopped passengers from filming and even attempted to put a mysterious pill into the mouth of the wounded Indian captain. The testimony also claims the terrorist had arranged for the flight to be staffed only by male flight attendants, raising the possibility that he had people inside the crew ready to help him.

What initially looked like the action of one terrorist is now raising a much more concerning perspective: an entire network inside the airline may have been involved in the plan to crash the plane at Ben Gurion Airport.

In the meantime, on 7 October 2026, an Egyptian pilot identified as Osama Mansour, posted a video on social media showing an Israeli El Al aircraft alongside an EgyptAir plane at Milan Malpensa Airport. The footage featured a recording of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat saying “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and violence for violence”, prompting concern among Israeli observers, particularly given the timing: the third anniversary of the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks.

Mansour denied any threatening or discriminatory intent, telling the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that the video was intended to express pride in Egypt’s national airline and had no connection to the Flydubai incident. EgyptAir stated that an initial inquiry did not identify him as one of its pilots; Mansour said he worked as a captain on private jets.

However, it is worth mentioning that il Giornale’s investigative reporter Giulia Sorrentino retrieved concerning images on Mansour’s Facebook account such as former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh shaking hands with former Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate chief Khaled Fawzy. Another photo, posted on October 6, 2016, shows the cartoon of an Egyptian soldier stepping over an Israeli one. On May 30, 2024, Mansour posted a photo of a Palestinian militant over al Aqsa and an additional comment: “The Palestinian cause is an Islamic, Arab, and humanitarian issue. It is strange that people place the burden of this cause solely on Egypt. There are many countries that share borders with Palestine, yet no one looks at anyone except Egypt!”

Terrorism is a fluid and adaptable phenomenon. As the security apparatus implements increasingly rigorous and sophisticated measures to prevent attacks, terrorists in turn seek new methods to circumvent them. The FlyDubai incident is a clear example of this.

In the past, airport-related terrorism involved hijackings—which were frequent during the 1970s and 1980s—and the planting of explosive devices on aircraft, such as in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. In the September 11, 2001 attacks, Al-Qaeda managed to infiltrate the passenger ranks with terrorists capable of flying planes; they then stormed the cockpits to crash the aircraft into predetermined targets. In the FlyDubai case, however, the radicalized individual was the pilot himself—someone who, at least in theory, was supposed to be classified as “safe.”

While investigations to determine if a network was behind the attempted hijacking of Flydubai flight 1073 are still ongoing, stricter vetting of civil airline pilots is crucial, because in the wrong hands, aircraft can be turned into missiles, as tragically witnessed on 9/11 and as nearly happened again on September 30, 2026, over Israel.