Israel nearly shot down Flydubai jet with 166 Israeli passengers aboard | GRAVITAS

In the latest news coming in, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a resolution honouring Indian pilot Smit Machchhar for his extraordinary courage.

As the multi-nation probe into the Flydubai hijacking attempt intensifies, Israel's handling of the situation is now under the lens. It has now emerged that Israel was prepared to shoot down the Flydubai jet despite nearly 166 Israeli passengers being on board.

On September 30, the flight which started from Dubai to Tel Aviv proceeded normally until it was roughly one hour away from its destination. Suddenly, the plane swiftly lost altitude, plunging nearly 14,000 feet in less than a minute.

According to CBS News, the Israeli Air Force tried to contact the cockpit at this juncture, but got no answer. Thereafter, a pre-established committee was activated, and a command centre was established as part of a longstanding protocol.

While Israel reportedly scrambled fighter jets and closed its airspace, the bravery of Indian pilot Smit Machchhar helped avert a certain catastrophe.

Despite being brutally attacked by his co-pilot Hamam Al-Hammami, he fought back and managed to unlock the cockpit door. Subsequently, a group of Israeli passengers and staff overpowered the co-pilot.

Two off-duty pilots who were on the flight managed to gain control of the aircraft and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk.

According to CBS News, Israel recalled its jets after the plane turned towards Saudi Arabia, which then scrambled its own jets.

If the flight would have continued its designated path, Israeli fighter jets would have reportedly tried to get as close as possible to make visual contact with the pilots to assess the situation.

In the scenario that the hijacking was confirmed and no demands were made, the report claimed that the prime minister as well as the defence minister would have held a joint call. At this point, the prime minister could have made the decision to shoot down the aircraft.

But what would be the rationale for such a big decision? According to CBS News, shooting down the passenger jet would be preferred as hundreds more could be killed if it crashed into prominent buildings in Israel.

This assumes significance as Al-Hammami reportedly told investigators that he planned to crash the plane into Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport or a tower block in the Israeli city.

However, is there a global protocol on opening fire at civilian aircraft? Article 3 bis of the 1944 Convention on Civil Aviation has the most clear take on this. It urges nations to refrain from using weapons against civilian aircraft in flight. In case of interception, it stipulates that lives of people onboard must not be endangered.

At the same time, this convention does not modify the rights of countries under the UN Charter, which includes the right to self-defence. Thus, individual nations have created their own domestic protocols.

According to The New York Times, after the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in September 2001, the then U.S. President George Bush ordered the downing of any more passenger jets that posed a harm to the country.

Military jets even scrambled to intercept the fourth hijacked plane, but it crashed into a field before they could take any action.

In wake of security failures on multiple fronts, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a comprehensive review to assess all aspects of aviation security concerning foreign civilian flights to Israel.

Now, even as the probe into the attacker co-pilot's alleged radical Islamist indoctrination is underway, U.S. President Donald Trump jumped the gun yet again. He blamed Iran for the attack, even as no connection has been established yet.

However, just before Trump's remarks, U.S. Vice President JD Vance had a very different take. He saw no conclusive material linking Iran to the Flydubai attack. At the same time, he revealed that the incident had prompted US to review its security procedures.

Listen to his observation...

According to reports, Israel is also taking part in the questioning of the attacker co-pilot.

Al-Hammami reportedly told the investigators that he had planned the attack before joining Flydubai, in revenge for the war in Gaza.

Authorities are also reportedly examining whether Al-Hammami acted alone, or whether he has links to any organisation.