New Delhi: Two Maldivian pilots employed by flydubai have been detained by the UAE in connection with the alleged hijacking attempt on the airline’s Dubai-Tel Aviv flight in which Indian Captain Smit Machchhar was injured.
The pilots were taken into police custody on 3 October, according to Male-based news outlet Adhadhu. Their families were subsequently informed of the detentions by the Maldivian Embassy in the UAE, the report said.
Neither Emirati authorities nor the Maldivian government has publicly confirmed the circumstances of the detentions or disclosed whether the pilots are suspected of involvement in the alleged plot. On 3 October, Maldivian government spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef said the information available at the time indicated that the two men had been summoned for questioning.
The detentions came as UAE authorities widened their investigation into the 30 September incident involving flydubai co-pilot Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national accused of attacking Machchhar in the cockpit in an alleged attempt to seize control of the aircraft and crash it. Machchhar was seriously injured in the confrontation.
Maldivian news outlets Adhadhu and Mihaaru reported that the detained pilots had professional and personal connections with Hammami. According to the reports, the three had interacted at work, while the detained pilots had lived in the same building as the Omani co-pilot. Mihaaru also reported that they had shared flight shifts.
Adhadhu separately reported that the pilots may have met Hammami at a corporate event, but said it could not independently verify the account through a second source.
Authorities have not publicly identified any of these reported connections as grounds for the detentions or disclosed evidence that the two pilots knew of or were involved in the alleged hijacking plan.
The two men are among six Maldivian nationals employed as pilots by flydubai and are among the airline’s most recent recruits from the country, according to local media reports.
The investigation initially focused on allegations that Hammami intended to seize control of the aircraft and deliberately crash it into the terminal at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport. The UAE attorney general characterised the suspected plan as a terrorist attack.
Emirati authorities have not publicly identified the two detained pilots or provided an update on their legal status.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)
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