The United Arab Emirates’ attorney general said Friday that the co-pilot who seized a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv planned to crash the plane into Israel’s main Ben-Gurion Airport
The plan was inspired by the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, UAE public prosecutors believe as a result of their investigation launched on October 1, which found the suspect had used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to “familiarise himself with the flight route and the airport”, the state news agency WAM reported.
The incident caused the jet to plunge 16,000 feet in 30 seconds.
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Passengers from flydubai Flight 1073 arriving in Israel on Wednesday evening. Credit: Tomer Applebaum
Passengers from flydubai Flight 1073 arriving in Israel on Wednesday evening. Credit: Tomer Applebaum
The attorney general said the suspect had worked for several airlines in different countries in the past, including Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc, before joining flydubai in January 2026.
The Omani co-pilot, identified as Hamam al-Hammami, allegedly attacked the captain with an emergency crash axe and attempted to take control of Flight 1073 last Wednesday, as it carried 174 people to Israel. The captain, Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, managed to open the cockpit door despite his injuries, allowing passengers to overpower the co-pilot. A reserve pilot took control of the plane and diverted it to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where al-Hammami was detained before being transferred to the UAE.
According to two Israeli officials familiar with the Emirati investigation, al-Hammami told interrogators that he had applied to fly for an airline operating routes to Tel Aviv. A third source briefed on the probe said he had planned to crash the plane into Ben-Gurion Airport and had previously intended to hijack and crash an earlier flight to Israel, but abandoned that attempt. It was unclear why he changed his mind, though the source said he was believed to have known someone aboard the earlier flight.
Israeli officials have said al-Hammami planned the attack before joining flydubai. He had previously been removed from flight training at Oman Air over concerns about extremist views, according to sources familiar with the matter. ABC News separately reported that he had been suspended in 2024 after extremist materials were found in his possession while he was a trainee co-pilot.
A social media account linked to al-Hammami also drew scrutiny after the incident. CNN reported that a LinkedIn profile bearing his name posted footage of Israeli aircraft and images of Al-Qaida figures about nine hours after the attempted hijacking. The posts’ author was unclear, as was whether they had been scheduled in advance. The profile said al-Hammami had worked for Oman Air for seven years before leaving in February 2025, then spent about seven months at Royal Air Maroc before joining flydubai.
The Emirati prosecutor general has described the incident as a terrorist attack. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, a senior diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, also publicly called it a “terrorist act.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said al-Hammami had “undergone Islamist radicalization” and “came to crash the plane with its passengers.” Netanyahu said Israel was investigating whether the co-pilot had acted on someone else’s orders.
The UAE has not announced formal charges against al-Hammami, and it is not known whether he has appointed a lawyer. Oman has not commented on the incident. UAE and Israeli authorities, as well as flydubai, did not immediately respond to requests for comment when Reuters reported on the investigation.
The incident prompted Netanyahu to order a review of foreign airlines flying to Israel, after he said pilots from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel, including Oman, were not permitted to operate flights to the country. It remains unclear how al-Hammami was assigned to the Tel Aviv route. An Australian counterterrorism unit is also investigating his ties to Australia; a source said he studied at RMIT University in Melbourne around a decade ago.
Flydubai suspended its flights to Israel until further notice after the incident. Israeli carriers Arkia and Israir have since operated repatriation flights from Dubai for Israelis stranded by the suspension.