Flydubai plot and protocol
Israel prepared to shoot down a flydubai passenger jet carrying more than 150 Israelis after the aircraft plunged about 14,000 feet, CBS News reported citing two Israeli sources with direct knowledge of the situation. The Israeli air force attempted to contact the cockpit but received no response, and a pre-established committee was convened with a command centre set up, fighter jets scrambled, and Israeli airspace closed. The warplanes were recalled after Israeli authorities saw the aircraft turning towards Saudi Arabia, around 400 miles from Israel, and Saudi Arabia also scrambled fighter aircraft in response.
The protocol described in the reporting allowed for the aircraft to be “shot down”, with the final decision resting with the prime minister, according to the sources. The reporting said the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight was approaching Israel on September 30 when the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the aircraft, and the plane later diverted towards Saudi Arabia where it made an emergency landing in Tabuk.
What some reports left out
ABC reports counter-terror probe into his Australian links
Reported by: ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Not found in: CBS News, Fox News, BBC, ABC News, Times of Israel, Times of India
UAE identifies suspect
UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the aircraft’s co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act by assaulting the pilot inside the cockpit using a crash axe and attempted to seize control of the aircraft’s controls, according to WAM state news agency. ABC News reported that sources identified the suspected attacker as 29-year-old Hamam Al Hammami, an Omani national who was previously suspended from flying by Oman Air after being identified as a security risk. ABC News said Al Hammami was found to be in possession of extremist materials while working as a co-pilot trainee for Oman Air in 2024, and the officials said he was allowed to continue working for the airline in an administrative role.
FlyDubai said it temporarily suspended operations to Tel Aviv until further notice, and the airline said a full official investigation led by the relevant authorities is underway. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the suspected attacker had undergone “Islamist radicalization” and that he came to crash the plane with all passengers on board.
Gaza-linked claims and fallout
The Times of Israel liveblog entry said Israel does not believe other flydubai crew members had any involvement in Omani copilot’s terror attack, and it said crew members were questioned by investigators in the United Arab Emirates. The same entry reported, without sourcing, that the Omani copilot told his interrogators he was acting “in revenge for Gaza,” and that he “I wanted to die as a martyr.” The entry also quoted two sources saying a Mossad official told Israeli cabinet ministers that the attacker, Hamam al-Hammami, made brief visits in recent years to several countries hostile to Israel.
The reporting said Israel does not know at this point whether he acted alone, while investigators had al-Hammami’s mobile phone and were combing through its contents. In parallel, the Times of Israel liveblog entry said Israel shared the UAE investigators’ conclusions that other crew members were not involved.