Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash flight 1073 into Tel Aviv, Israeli media reports
Investigators in UAE continue to question Hamam al-Hammami, who allegedly said: 'I looked into which airline flies to Tel Aviv. That’s why I chose flydubai'
The co-pilot behind the attempt to hijack a Flydubai aircraft with 182 passengers on board planned to crash it into Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media reports.
The Omani national, widely named across news outlets as Hamam al-Hammami, grew up in Dubai and remains under arrest for questioning in the United Arab Emirates.
He has allegedly told investigators that after attacking fellow pilot Captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit’s crash axe, he intended to continue piloting flydubai Flight 1073 as normal, be cleared for landing landing and then crash into a building or Ben Gurion Airport.
Passengers and crew subdued the alleged attacker as the plane dropped from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (10,000 metres to 5,100 metres) in about a minute. The co-pilot, who officials said nearly crashed the aircraft, had been barred from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted extremist views, according to reports.
The aircraft, travelling from the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv, was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Israel media reports that al-Hammami visited Ben Gurion several times and planned to crash a plane in July but decided against doing so after becoming friendly with the crew.
Channel 12 reports that Israel has asked the UAE to expand its questioning to include the flight attendants following allegations from passengers who successfully subdued al-Hammami that members of the cabin crew confronted them and demanded that they untie him.
Israel’s Channel 13 reports that the suspect told investigators: “I looked into which airline flies to Tel Aviv. That’s why I chose flydubai. I planned it even before I was accepted.”
Ynet writes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly acknowledged for the first time that the incident exposed significant failures and security gaps.
Emirati sources have told the news outlet that once all investigations are completed, al-Hammami faces the death penalty, noting that “Mossad personnel and Israeli aviation experts had arrived in Abu Dhabi to take part” in the questioning, alongside senior Saudi and Omani intelligence officials and at least two representatives of U.S. intelligence agencies.