First officer may have acted alone in attack on Israel-bound flight, NBC reports

The attack aboard a flydubai passenger jet bound for Israel on Wednesday may have been carried out by the first officer acting alone, NBC News reported Monday (local time).

Shalom Ben Hanan, a former official at Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, told NBC that the first officer is currently assessed to have acted alone. "It appears to be a 'lone wolf' terrorist attack inspired by content he encountered online," Ben Hanan said. He added that investigators would need to await the final results of the probe before determining whether any organization or state was behind it.

Multiple US officials said the investigation remains in its early stages. UAE prosecutors, who are leading the probe, earlier announced that the first officer — identified as 29-year-old Omani national Hammam Al-Hammami — attacked the captain with an emergency axe from inside the cabin and attempted to seize control of the aircraft.

The flight had departed Dubai en route to Tel Aviv when the Indian captain was seriously injured in the attack. The captain managed to have the cockpit door opened, allowing three Israeli passengers and crew members to enter and subdue Al-Hammami. About 180 people were on board at the time, the majority of them Israelis.

UAE investigators are examining the specific circumstances, motive and possible accomplices in the incident. Israel and the United States have not ruled out the possibility that a hostile state such as Iran was behind the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israeli authorities were investigating whether Al-Hammami had acted on anyone's orders. US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of Iranian involvement Thursday.

However, a senior US official briefed on the Israeli investigation told NBC News there was no indication that Iran had directed or been involved in the attack.