In a recent development, it has been revealed that the co-pilot of a FlyDubai flight, who attacked the captain with an axe in an apparent bid to crash the plane, had premeditated the assault even before being employed by the state-owned airline in Dubai. According to Israeli sources familiar with the investigation, the Omani co-pilot had planned to carry out the crash into Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv during last week’s flight.
The co-pilot had previously contemplated hijacking and crashing a plane headed to Tel Aviv earlier this year but decided against it. The reason for the change of plan on the previous flight remains unclear, although it is speculated that he may have had a connection with someone on board.
The identity of the co-pilot, named Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national, has been disclosed by two sources, while the U.A.E. authorities and FlyDubai have not publicly confirmed his identity. The incident, labeled as a “terrorist attack” by the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general, involved the co-pilot attacking the pilot with an emergency crash axe on FlyDubai flight FZ1073 bound for Israel from Dubai.
Following the courageous intervention of passengers and crew members, disaster was averted, and the pilot, Smit Machchhar, an Indian national, managed to open the cockpit door, earning him praise as a hero. A substitute FlyDubai pilot assumed control of the aircraft and safely landed it in northwestern Saudi Arabia after subduing the co-pilot.
It has been reported that the co-pilot had expressed interest in working for FlyDubai after researching airlines flying to Tel Aviv. Israeli authorities have been kept informed of the investigation’s progress by the U.A.E. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a security assessment of foreign airlines flying to Israel in light of the incident involving a co-pilot from a country with which Israel has no diplomatic relations.
Moreover, investigations have revealed that the co-pilot has previous ties to New Zealand and Australia, with authorities in both countries looking into his background. Netanyahu has suggested that the co-pilot underwent radical Islamist indoctrination and displayed suicidal tendencies, though specifics about this indoctrination remain undisclosed. The co-pilot had undergone theoretical training at Royal Air Maroc in 2025, but his application to work there was subsequently declined.
