New visuals show flydubai attacker pinned to ground beside bloodied Indian captain

The first visuals of the Omani co-pilot accused of attacking Indian captain Smit Machchhar aboard a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight have emerged, showing him pinned to the floor outside the cockpit as blood stains his uniform, while the injured captain lies nearby with an oxygen mask.

In the video, sourced from the Associated Press, Machchhar can be seen lying bloodied on the floor outside the cockpit area with an oxygen mask. One passenger can be heard asking, “How much time we need?” and urging him not to sleep.

The co-pilot, whose name has not yet been publicly revealed by authorities, is seen pinned to the ground and wearing the pilot’s uniform.

Blood can be seen on his clothing, although it is unclear whether it is his blood or Machchhar’s following their violent scuffle, during which the co-pilot attacked the captain with an axe.

The video also shows Israeli passenger Assaf Rajuan, an insurance agency owner seen with a deep gash bleeding on his forehead, and Yaniv Hayun, an Israeli plumber who was among the first to rush towards the cockpit after suspecting something was amiss.

“We managed to keep the attacker neutralised for 50 minutes and land in Saudi Arabia,” Rajuan told Ynet News.

Hayun was among those who subdued the co-pilot. He also took control of the aircraft’s levers to prevent it from nosediving, a lesson he said he had picked up from a television show on aviation disasters. Machchhar had managed to open the cockpit door before slumping, allowing passengers to rush inside and intervene.NETANYAHU REVEALS CO-PILOT SHOUTED 'KILL ME'

Earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disclosed a dramatic new detail about the mid-air attack on a Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight, saying the co-pilot shouted, “Kill me, kill me” after he was overpowered.

The incident put the lives of 180 passengers, most of them Israelis, at risk after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed Indian captain Smit Machchhar during the flight.

In an interview with Fox News a day after the attack, Netanyahu said the co-pilot appeared to have undergone radical indoctrination and described him as “suicidal”, suggesting that he intended to bring the aircraft down. Investigators are still trying to establish the full motive and how the attack unfolded on board the Dubai-Tel Aviv service.

Netanyahu said it was still too early to say whether the co-pilot had any connection to Iran, but added that investigators could know “in a matter of days.”

He said the accused was being investigated in Saudi Arabia and could later be taken to the United Arab Emirates, from where the flight had departed. “We’ll be following and possibly also participating in this investigation,” Netanyahu told Fox News.

He also said Israel would question the co-pilot and examine whether he had any accomplices and whether Iran had any role.

“We’ll get to the root of this attacker, whether he had accomplices and whether Iran was behind it. I think we’ll find out very soon,” he said.

The co-pilot was arrested after flydubai flight FZ1073 made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu joined other Israeli officials in describing the incident as a jihadist terror attack. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz was among the first to call it “an attempted jihadist terror attack.”'VERY RELIGIOUS, REFUSED TO SHAKE HANDS WITH WOMEN'

The Israeli Embassy in India also used the same description, saying a flydubai flight carrying 170 Israelis had become the scene of an attempted jihadist terror attack.

The embassy said the incident was not only an attack on Israelis but also an attempt to undermine the Abraham Accords, the agreements brokered under former US President Donald Trump.

“This was an attack on Israelis, the UAE and the Abraham Accords,” the embassy said.

At the same time, Israel and the UAE are investigating whether the assault on the captain by his co-pilot was an attempted hijacking or a terrorist act. Israel’s Ambassador to the UAE, Yossi Avraham Shelley, reportedly urged caution against reaching conclusions too early.

Even before Netanyahu’s interview, reports had begun circulating about the co-pilot’s religious behaviour. Yosef Israel, foreign news editor at Tel Aviv-based Channel 16, cited a flydubai pilot as saying the accused colleague displayed “very religious” conduct.

According to Yosef, the pilot said, “He prayed excessively throughout the day and refused to shake hands with women.” Yosef did not identify the colleague who made the remarks.

Yosef also quoted the same pilot as saying, “There is no other way to put it. We hired the services of a terrorist and nearly caused the deaths of 180 people.”

When asked how the co-pilot had been assigned to a flight to Israel, he reportedly questioned how an Omani national from a country without diplomatic relations with Israel had been allowed to operate the service.- Ends