By Allison Lampert, Tim Hepher, Steven Scheer and Federico Maccioni
Oct 7 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has launched an air accident probe following last week's cockpit stabbing on a flydubai jet, as experts examine any fallout for aviation safety alongside a separate UAE-led criminal investigation, three people close to the matter said.
Safety probes designed to keep flights safe are normal after accidents but are not mandatory when a deliberate act is involved, such as the suspected attempt by a co-pilot
to bring down the Israel-bound flydubai jet on September 30.
Until now, it has remained unclear whether Saudi Arabia would go ahead with such a probe, which experts say could test a system of international co-operation designed to make recommendations for safety without attempting to assign blame.
The people close to the matter said Saudi Arabia had notified specialist aviation agencies abroad that it would carry out a safety investigation under international rules into flight FZ1073, which was in Saudi airspace when the co-pilot attacked the captain with an axe.
Saudi Arabia's National Transport Safety Center, which has responsibility for accident investigations, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Saudi government and the country's regulator also did not answer requests for comment.
The US National Transportation Safety Board, which would be closely involved in any probe because the Boeing 737 MAX jet that survived a steep plunge was designed and built in the United States, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Officials in the UAE did not respond to requests for comment. Under international rules, the UAE would also automatically be involved because the jet is registered there and the airline is based in Dubai.
The UAE has already opened a separate criminal investigation into the incident, which its prosecutor general has called a "terrorist attack."
Israel, whose citizens made up nearly all the 172 people on board, has offered to take part in any Saudi-led safety investigation but has not so far been invited to take part, the head of the country's air accident agency told Reuters.
"We are still waiting for a notification from Saudi Arabia to invite us to take a part in the investigation," Ofer Vaknin, director of the Aircraft Safety Investigation Authority, said.
Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have diplomatic relations, though experts say the decades-old system of cooperation on preventing accidents, which is widely credited with a sharp reduction in the accident rate, can cross political lines.
(Reporting By Allison Lampert, Tim Hepher, Steven Scheer, Federico Maccioni, Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Joe Brock and Elaine Hardcastle)
