The flydubai co-pilot who stabbed the captain of a flight to Israel last week had planned the attack before joining the airline, according to two Israeli officials familiar with the UAE investigation.
A third source briefed on the probe said the Omani co-pilot had planned to crash Wednesday’s flight into Ben-Gurion Airport. He had also flown to Tel Aviv earlier this year and intended to hijack and crash that flight, but ultimately abandoned the plan, the source said.
It was not immediately clear why he changed his mind, though the source said he is believed to have known someone aboard the earlier flight.
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The profile picture of a LinkedIn account bearing the name Hamam al-Hammami, identified as the co-pilot who allegedly attempted to hijack a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
The profile picture of a LinkedIn account bearing the name Hamam al-Hammami, identified as the co-pilot who allegedly attempted to hijack a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. UAE and Israeli authorities, as well as flydubai, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The co-pilot of flydubai Flight FZ1073, which was flying from Dubai to Israel last Wednesday, attacked the captain with an emergency crash axe, the UAE prosecutor general has said, describing the incident as a “terrorist attack.”
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Two sources have identified the co-pilot as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami. Israeli officials have said he is from Oman but have not publicly named him, while UAE authorities and flydubai have not disclosed his identity
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A flydubai plane. Credit: Markus Mainka/Shutterstock
A flydubai plane. Credit: Markus Mainka/Shutterstock
Reuters has not been able to independently reach al-Hammami, who is in UAE custody, for comment. The UAE has not announced formal charges against him, and it is not known whether he has appointed a lawyer. Oman has not commented on the incident.
The two Israeli officials said al-Hammami told interrogators that he applied to flydubai after searching for airlines that operated flights to Tel Aviv.
CBS News reported Sunday that an initial Israeli investigation found that he acted alone.
According to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, al-Hammami planned to shut down the plane’s engines and crash it into skyscrapers in Tel Aviv. The report said he also intended to kill the captain without alerting authorities and reach Tel Aviv before Israeli fighter jets could intercept the aircraft.
Passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot before he could carry out the alleged attack. Captain Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, survived after managing to open the cockpit door. More than 170 passengers and crew were aboard the flight, most of them Israeli.
A reserve flydubai pilot traveling on the flight took control of the aircraft and landed it at an airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia. The co-pilot was detained there and transferred to the UAE on Thursday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said pilots from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, including Oman, are not permitted to operate flights to Israel. It remains unclear how al-Hammami was assigned to the Tel Aviv flight, and Netanyahu has since ordered a review of foreign airlines flying to Israel.
An Australian counterterrorism unit is also investigating the co-pilot’s ties to Australia. A fourth source said he studied at RMIT University in Melbourne around a decade ago.