10月7日——据三位知情人士透露，继上周发生阿联酋航空旗下迪拜航空航班上出现驾驶舱持刀伤人事件后，沙特阿拉伯已着手开展航空安全调查。与此同时，专家们也在评估该事件对航空安全的影响；阿联酋方面也正在主导一项刑事调查。
Oct 7 - 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.
通常情况下，为保障飞行安全而开展的安全调查在事故发生后属于常规程序，但若涉及蓄意犯罪行为——比如9月30日副驾驶涉嫌企图击落飞往以色列的迪拜航空航班——此类调查则并非强制要求。
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.
此前，沙特是否会开展此类调查一直尚不明确。专家指出，此次调查或将考验现有的国际合作机制：该机制旨在提出安全改进建议，而并不承担责任认定职能。
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.
上述知情人士称，沙特已通知多家国际航空专业机构，表示将依据国际规则对FZ1073航班展开安全调查。事发时该航班正处于沙特领空，当时副驾驶用斧头袭击了机长。
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.
负责事故调查工作的沙特国家运输安全中心暂未对置评请求作出回应。沙特政府及该国航空监管机构也均未回复相关询问。
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.
由于这架经历剧烈俯冲后仍安全着陆的波音737 MAX客机由美国设计并制造，美国国家运输安全委员会理应深度参与此次调查，但该机构目前也未能联系上以获取回应。
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.
阿联酋官方同样未对置评请求作出答复。根据国际规则，由于该航班从阿联酋起飞且迪拜航空总部位于该国，阿联酋也理应自动成为调查参与方。
Officials in the UAE did not respond to requests for comment. Under international rules, the UAE would also automatically be involved because the jet ised there and the airline is based in Dubai.
阿联酋已经就此次事件启动了独立的刑事调查，其总检察长称该事件为“恐怖袭击”。以色列公民几乎占机上172名乘客的全部，该国航空事故调查机构负责人告诉路透社，以色列已表示愿意参与任何由沙特主导的安全调查，但至今尚未收到邀请。
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.
飞机安全调查局局长奥弗·瓦克宁表示：“我们仍在等待沙特阿拉伯的通知，邀请我们参与调查。”
"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.
沙特阿拉伯和以色列之间没有外交关系，但专家认为，两国在预防事故方面数十年来建立的合作机制能够超越政治分歧，而这一机制也被广泛认为是事故率大幅下降的关键因素。
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.