Looks like a rather peculiar art governs aviation security. A man can apparently acquire a pilot’s licence, secure employment with a major airline, fly repeatedly into a country that explicitly bars crew members holding passports from countries with which it has no diplomatic relations, and allegedly plan an attack on the very airport to which he is flying, all while the institutions responsible for preventing such a spectacle assure us that the prescribed checks were completed. The paperwork, it seems, was impeccable. The security requires closer examination.

The UAE Attorney General’s statement of October 9 provides a detailed account of what allegedly happened aboard flydubai flight FZ1073. According to the official version, the Omani co-pilot, Hammam al-Hammami, had cultivated extremist views, used two earlier flights to Tel Aviv to familiarise himself with the route and airport, and attempted to seize the aircraft to crash it into Ben Gurion Airport; reportedly, he confessed to the plot. These are serious allegations, but the more elaborate the account becomes, the more conspicuous another question grows. Who decided that this man was fit to be entrusted with the lives of hundreds of passengers, and on what information was that decision based? The UAE prosecution says he held a pilot’s licence, provided a certificate of good conduct and passed the required recruitment checks. Apparently, none of these checks revealed indications of extremist sympathies or terrorist intentions. There is something almost touching about the confidence with which bureaucratic procedure is invoked to settle a question that bureaucratic procedure was supposed to prevent from arising. The box was ticked, the certificate was filed, the licence was inspected, and the applicant was deemed fit to fly a passenger aircraft into Israel. What could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Investigative reporting alleges that Oman Air had previously removed al Hammami from flying duties over concerns about extremist material. The Wall Street Journal has reported that flydubai hired him without contacting Omani authorities to verify his earlier employment history. The precise circumstances require documentary........

© Mathrubhumi English