UAE says flydubai co-pilot aimed to crash jet into Ben Gurion

United Arab Emirates prosecutors say an Omani flydubai co-pilot intended to seize a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight and crash it into the passenger terminal at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on 30 September, in a suicide attack designed to cause mass casualties. UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif al Shamsi announced the findings on Friday, according to the state news agency. The suspect, a 29-year-old identified as Hamam al-Hammami, allegedly attacked the captain with a cockpit crash axe mid-flight before passengers regained control.tribune.com.pk+1

The announcement is the most detailed public account yet from Emirati prosecutors and the first confirmation that the plot drew directly on the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States. Prosecutors say the co-pilot chose a career in commercial aviation with the intention of carrying out a similar operation. The claim matters because it reframes the incident from an isolated mid-air assault into what investigators describe as a long-planned attack on a specific Israeli airport terminal.

What prosecutors say he planned

Prosecutors say al-Hammami confessed to acting alone, though investigators are continuing to verify that claim. The UAE's criminal investigation, launched on 1 October, found he had taken two earlier flights to Tel Aviv to familiarise himself with the route and Ben Gurion Airport. Al Shamsi said the suspect provided a detailed confession outlining his motives and the stages of planning and execution, in the presence of his lawyer and with legally prescribed safeguards in place.middleeasteye.net

The attack unfolded in Saudi airspace on flight FZ1073, which was carrying more than 170 passengers bound for Israel from the United Arab Emirates. The jet plunged 4,900 metres in 30 seconds during the assault. The co-pilot, Smit Machchhar, managed to unlock the cockpit door during the attack, allowing passengers to storm in and wrest back control. An off-duty pilot travelling on the flight then executed an emergency landing in northern Saudi Arabia.

Investigators say signs of al-Hammami's 'drift towards extremism and terrorism' first emerged in 2017, while he was studying in Melbourne, Australia. The UAE's state news agency reported he was influenced by takfiri ideology through reading extremist literature and following online content glorifying terrorist organisations and suicide attacks. He regularly attended a mosque during his studies and became acquainted with an organisation linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, known as 'My Centre', managed by a Lebanese man known as 'Abu Hamza'.abc.net.au

How investigators say he prepared

Prosecutors say the suspect prepared both psychologically and physically for the attack, intensifying his exposure to material promoting terrorism and taking private boxing lessons under a coach. Channel 12 News reported that al-Hammami tied the attempt to the war in the Gaza Strip, telling investigators, 'I did it as revenge for Gaza.

Al-Hammami worked for Oman Air between 2020 and 2024, spent a period with Royal Air Maroc in 2025, and joined flydubai in January 2026. Investigators determined he satisfied the professional and security conditions for employment, including a valid pilot's licence, a certificate of good conduct, and required screening procedures. However, prosecutors said the recruitment process did not uncover evidence of his extremist beliefs or intentions to carry out a terrorist attack.

Questions have been raised over how he was cleared to fly to Tel Aviv. Israel bars flight crews from countries without diplomatic relations from operating in and out of Tel Aviv, and Oman falls into that category. There have been demands in Israel for the transport minister to resign, since her department is responsible for flagging security risks among flight crews. The statement by Al Shamsi did not implicate flydubai in any wrongdoing, and the airline was not immediately available for comment.

Questions over his recruitment and screening

The Australian Federal Police confirmed it had launched an investigation into al-Hammami's time in Australia and any links to extremism. Saudi Arabia has separately opened a safety investigation into the incident aboard flight FZ1073, sources said. The investigations run alongside the UAE's criminal case, which remains open as prosecutors work to verify the suspect's claim that he acted alone without the involvement of others.