Australia investigates its links to co-pilot suspected of attempting to down "Fly Dubai"

An Australian police spokesperson said on Sunday that a joint counter-terrorism unit is investigating links to Australia concerning a co-pilot suspected of stabbing the captain of a FlyDubai flight that was en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv before attempting to crash it.

The spokesperson mentioned that "the joint counter-terrorism team in Victoria, which includes the federal police, Victoria police, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, is investigating this man's connections to Australia."

Two informed sources stated that the co-pilot studied at a university in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria. A third source reported that he studied at RMIT University about a decade ago. The university declined to comment.

Earlier on Saturday, the UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi announced that investigations into the FlyDubai incident revealed that "the co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act."

He added that "the co-pilot began to implement his plan during the flight, as he attacked the captain inside the cockpit using an emergency axe and attempted to take control of the aircraft's controls," according to the Emirates News Agency "WAM."

A flight instructor who simulated the landing told Reuters that the passengers on board the flight felt as if they were on a "vertical roller coaster" when the plane dropped 16,000 feet in about 30 seconds before stabilizing and landing safely.

The UAE Attorney General stated that investigations into the incident involving the Fly Dubai flight heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv revealed that "the co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act."

Most of the passengers on the plane were Israelis. A reserve pilot from Fly Dubai, who was traveling on the flight, took control of the aircraft and made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.

The Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing two sources familiar with the investigation, that the co-pilot was said to have visited what were described as mosques promoting extremist rhetoric and extremist websites while in Australia.

The newspaper added that Australian intelligence agencies had maintained a file on him.

A number of passengers on flight 1073 of Fly Dubai, which was headed from Dubai to Tel Aviv and made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia, revealed details of what happened inside the plane.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the co-pilot "was subjected to a process of indoctrination with extremist ideas, and he clearly had suicidal tendencies," but he did not specify when or where this occurred.

Netanyahu tasked the Israeli National Security Council on Sunday to appoint an official to oversee "a comprehensive examination of all security aspects related to foreign civil aviation heading to Israel."