DOMINANT ANGLE
Berlin is questioning the screening of pilots: the German press first notes that a copilot previously ruled out for extremism was able to fly for Flydubai.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The prosecutor general stated that the co-pilot had planned a "terrorist act" and attacked the captain with the emergency axe (Tagesschau).
- 02
According to ABC News, as reported by DW, the co-pilot had been suspended by Oman Air after extremist material was discovered in 2024, and was then able to fly for Flydubai.
- 03
182 people, including four pilots, were on board; two other pilots landed the plane in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia (DW).
ANALYSIS
Berlin, October 4, 2026. In the German press, the Flydubai FZ1073 flight incident is first and foremost a question of screening: how could a co-pilot already considered a risk have been allowed to pilot a sensitive route like Dubai-Tel Aviv? Tagesschau and Deutsche Welle (DW) report that the Emirati Attorney General stated on Saturday, October 3, that the co-pilot had planned a "Terrorakt": he allegedly attacked the captain with the emergency axe on Wednesday, September 30, in an attempt to take control of the aircraft.
DW, in its English version, recalls that 182 people were on board, including four pilots; two other pilots took control and landed the plane in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. It quotes Anwar Gargash, Emirati Presidential Advisor, who speaks of a "terrorist operation" proving that the "fight against extremism continues".
However, the main focus of the coverage is on the man's background. Both media outlets rely on ABC News, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal: the co-pilot, an Omani, was allegedly suspended by Oman Air after extremist material was found during his training in 2024, but he kept an administrative position. According to the Wall Street Journal, Oman had banned him from flying due to fears of radical views. Tagesschau adds, citing the Saudi channel Al-Arabiya, a stay in Syria that had raised concerns.
DW emphasizes that the Wall Street Journal was unable to determine whether Oman had transmitted its concerns to Flydubai, and that investigators are trying to understand why he was able to fly for the company afterwards. According to ABC News, as reported by DW, the suspect, who has been transferred to the Emirates, is cooperating and has hinted that he wanted to crash the plane in Israel.
The geopolitical context, the Abraham Accords signed in 2020 between Israel and the Emirates, only appears as a backdrop, mentioned by DW. The German media remains cautious: they use the conditional tense ("soll", "offenbar", "mutmaßlich") and attribute each revelation to American or Saudi sources, without official confirmation of the man's identity or background.
