Tel Aviv [Israel], October 1 (ANI): Warning that a terrifying mid-air incident aboard an Israel-bound flight following a violent mid-air cockpit attack could have resulted in catastrophic mass casualties, former Israeli Government Spokesperson Eylon Levy has praised the extraordinary bravery of the Indian pilot, Captain Smit Machchhar, and passengers who intervened to stop an attempted terrorist attack.Speaking to ANI, former Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy shared his assessment of the harrowing incident, stating, “Israel believes this was an attempted terror attack and could well have been Israel’s 9/11, if not for the heroism of the Indian captain who managed to open the door to the cockpit and let the passengers come in to save the flight. The co-pilot, a national of Oman, stabbed the Indian captain over the skies of Saudi Arabia and tried to take control of the cockpit. During that tussle, the brave Indian captain opened the door so that passengers could come in. The passengers went inside and tackled the pilot. An Israeli plumber managed to grab the steering wheel of the plane in order to force it out of the nosedive. The other passengers restrained the terrorist pilot with earphones until an off-duty pilot on the plane was able to take control and eventually landed safely in Saudi Arabia. There have been many hijackings of aircraft in the past. This is the first I know of a pilot who didn’t just try to crash the plane, but planned to use it as a weapon for a possible 9/11-style attack, which was prevented because of the courage of the Indian co-pilot and those passengers on board.”Detailing the severe tactical threats and potential scenarios that could have unfolded had the cockpit breach succeeded, Levy noted the historical context of aviation security threats.”People don’t just hijack planes full of Israelis for fun. Unfortunately, Israel has a lot of experience, especially in the 1970s, with Palestinian terror attacks that involved hijacking planes. He could have tried to crash it into the Saudi desert. He could have tried to force it to land in a hostile country. The third possibility is he could have waited to enter Israeli airspace and then crash that flight into a building in a 9/11-style attack. At the moment, Israel has the eyewitness statements from the passengers who fought with the terrorist on board, but he is now in the custody of Saudi authorities. Israel is following the investigation closely and wants to participate in that investigation so we can learn lessons and make sure that nothing like this, a rogue pilot, ever threatens global aviation again,” he said.Building on these insights, Israel’s Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, expressed immense admiration for the extraordinary valour displayed during the incident, hailing the heroic intervention of Captain Smit Machchhar and stating that the pilot had demonstrated extreme courage in the face of severe odds.Speaking to ANI, Ambassador Azar shared his initial reaction to the harrowing event, “We’ve seen that, thanks to the amazing bravery, courage and resolve of Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot, 180 passengers were saved. He, despite the fact that he was stabbed by his co-pilot, he’s been able to open the door of the cabin, and that allowed the bravery of others, the passengers, three Israeli passengers that penetrated the cabin, neutralised the attacker, and then afterwards, called both the doctor that took care of Captain Machar, and the crew that came and took over the flight. There were two pilots, additional pilots that were sitting with the passenger, at the plane. So, thanks to the combination of the actions, the united action of both the captain, the crew members, and the passengers, this flight was saved.”The Israeli envoy noted that the actions of Captain Machchhar prevented a repeat of 9/11 when hijackers were able to take control of the plane and fly it into the World Trade Towers in New York:”I think that another 9/11 could have happened. Whether this attacker would have been able to take control of the flight, and thanks to the combination of the action, the activity, the resolve of the Indian pilot that deserves praise and was praised, and will be praised even more, we now have a different situation. The passengers are safe. We had our health teams there at the airport to make sure that everybody, everybody is okay. We heard testimonies of the Israelis on the flight, and I think that everybody now is safe and sound,” he said.The attempted attack on the flight comes at a restive moment in the Middle East with the Iran conflict and elections in Israel, prompting calls for increased intelligence sharing to avoid such situations.Ambassador Azar added, “This attack happened at a crucial moment, a very sensitive moment in the region, where in Israel we are going to have elections, where only few days back Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the UAE and consulted, according to reports, with leaders of the region. Each time that you have intensification of cooperation of countries in the region that are interested in prosperity, in fighting terrorism, you have terrorists that are trying to challenge that, like unfortunately happened in the terrible massacre of the 7th of October. Since Abraham Accords have been signed, we have more and more communication and cooperation between intelligence agencies in our region, between security agencies, civil aviation authorities. And I’m sure that all the information that is going to come out, both of the investigation of the attacker, the black box of the plane, all these things are going to be hopefully shared, so we can draw the conclusions, understand what happened and try to prevent such events in the future.”Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the attacking pilot was being investigated in Saudi Arabia and could be taken to the UAE, adding that Israel would follow the investigation and could potentially participate in it. Commenting on the protocols moving forward, Israel’s envoy noted, “I’m sure that the professional agencies are going to take another look at the protocols. Many of these protocols were actually activated as a result of the hijack alert that was sent by the pilot, and these strict protocols are going to have to be revised so we make sure that not only we can prevent in the future such incidents, but if they happen, to deal with them as diligently as possible.”Captain Smit Machchhar is a seasoned pilot with more than 13 years of commercial aviation experience and around 9,750 total flying hours, predominantly operating Boeing 737 aircraft. Before joining Flydubai, he spent 11 years with SpiceJet, where he served as a Line Training Captain.Meanwhile, Flydubai has temporarily suspended flights to and from Israel as an investigation into Wednesday’s mid-air incident is underway, according to the airline. (ANI)(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. 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