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US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee expects airlines will implement enhanced screenings of pilots and flight attendants in response to the flydubai hijacking, which he described as “a 9/11 situation” in the latest episode of “Pod Force One.”
“The question I think will be a tough one for everyone to answer: How did this guy get hired?” Huckabee said of the flydubai co-pilot accused of using an axe to hack the captain in an attempted plane hijacking during a flight bound for Israel last month.
“Now maybe they were just desperate for pilots, and they looked the other way at some of his background, or maybe they didn’t check. But the answer to your question: Does this change the security methods? Oh boy, does it ever!” the former Arkansas governor told “Pod Force One” host Miranda Devine.
The co-pilot, Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, reportedly had an obsession with crashing a passenger jet on Israeli soil and researched potential attacks for months before his failed attempt – which was foiled when the injured captain, Smit Machchhar, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to rush in, subdue the madman and regain control of the plummeting plane.
Huckabee suggested the enhanced precautions may be implemented globally.
“Not just for pilots flying into Israel, but I think every airline now is going to be looking at social media accounts. They’re going to be really wanting to know: Is there any red flag here?” he said.
“Flight attendants, same thing,” the diplomat continued, “because if you have a flight attendant, a flight attendant could wreak havoc. They have access to the cockpit.”
“This was just one of those amazing things,” he said of the foiled terrorist attack. “And we don’t know absolutely confirmed, but he has told some of the investigators that his goal was to fly it into the terminal at Ben Gurion Airport.
“That would have been catastrophic.”
Every week, Post columnist Miranda Devine sits down for exclusive and candid conversations with the most influential disruptors in Washington on ‘Pod Force One.’ Subscribe here!
Had the attack been carried out successfully, it would have been a “9/11 situation,” Huckabee said.
“[I]t would have been such an incredible disaster had he been able to fly it into Ben Gurion, or for that matter, into downtown Tel Aviv or Jerusalem,” he continued. “Wherever he put that airplane, it would have been horrible.”
Israeli plumber Yaniv Hayoun heroically took control of the aircraft and managed to pull it up from a steep dive – despite having no experience flying a plane — after the terrorist was subdued. Another pilot traveling aboard the flight, described by Huckabee as an Australian, then safely landed the plane.
“He was the most gracious, humble — I think he’s overwhelmed by all this attention,” Huckabee said of Hayoun. “I mean, this is a guy, he’s a plumber. He’s used to going and fixing pipes, and suddenly he’s saving 174 lives.”
“They were probably 30 seconds from hitting the ground. That’s how close it was.”