A flydubai co-pilot accused of stabbing his captain in an alleged attempt to crash a plane is reported to have completed part of his flight training in New Zealand, according to New Zealand police. The police statement says the man was in New Zealand seven years ago for training linked to a UK-based operator.
Police state he was in the country between November 2018 and May 2019 on a six-month student visa. The reports from multiple outlets describe the training as a portion of his flight course, carried out while he was based in New Zealand for that period.
While all accounts focus on the same training episode and visa timeframe, they vary mainly in how they frame the broader case context. Several outlets reference the stabbing incident as part of the alleged plot involving the captain, while others keep the attention on the police disclosure about where the co-pilot completed training. None of the sources provided details beyond what police said about his New Zealand presence and the associated flight-training arrangement.
