Air Maroc responds to what was raised about the work of a Flydubai co-pilot with the company

Royal Air Maroc said that the pilot - suspected of assaulting another pilot on a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv - had never worked for the company, in light of reports about his professional background. The Moroccan News Agency reported, quoting Royal Air Lines, that “following some media circulating information indicating that the co-pilot involved in the Flydubai flight accident had previously worked for Royal Air Maroc, the company clarified that the person concerned had, in the year 2025, undergone theoretical training for a period of three months, in preparation for possible employment.”

Royal Air Maroc added, "After the end of the training period, the nomination of the person concerned was excluded." Earlier, informed sources revealed to Ofoq News Network that the suspected pilot was excluded from a previous job with the Omani national airline last year due to concerns related to his “extremist views.”

A regional diplomatic source familiar with the case told Ofoq News that the suspect was excluded from a training program due to fears that he would adopt extremist ideas, noting that he was transferred to another job within the company. The UAE Attorney General, Hamad Al Shamsi, said that investigations into the events that took place on board the Fly Dubai flight to Tel Aviv on Wednesday revealed that “the plane’s assistant pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist operation.”

Al Shamsi explained that “the plane’s co-pilot began implementing his plan during the flight, as he assaulted the plane’s pilot inside the cockpit using the emergency axe, and tried to control the plane’s controls,” according to the official Emirates News Agency (WAM). Al Shamsi pointed out that "investigations are still underway to uncover all the circumstances of the incident, its motives and the links associated with it, in addition to completing technical examinations and examining physical and digital evidence, with the final results being announced as soon as the necessary procedures are completed."