Days after Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national and the co-pilot on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, attacked the flight captain Smit Machchhar with a crash axe in an attempt to crash the aircraft carrying Israeli passengers, the co-pilot reportedly told investigators that he had planned the attack even before he was hired by the airline.
Last week, a -bound Flydubai flight from Dubai found itself in the middle of a tragedy after the co-pilot attacked the flight captain mid-air. The incident occurred on FZ1073. Smit Machchhar, the flight captain, initially believed that his co-pilot had gotten up to pray but later realised that he was being attacked. Despite suffering serious injuries, he managed to unlock the cockpit door, allowing crew members and passengers to subdue the co-pilot. Two off-duty pilots then regained control of the aircraft and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk.
Since the September 30 incident, investigations across the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Israel and Saudi Arabia, where the plane made an emergency landing, have been underway, with chilling details emerging every day.
According to a Channel 13 report, Al-Hammami admitted that he was looking to work for airlines, adding, “I checked which ones flew to Tel Aviv. That’s why I chose Flydubai. I planned it even before I was hired.”
According to Israeli media reports, Al-Hammami also planned to kill inside the locked cockpit and subsequently take control of the aircraft. He further told investigators that he used his previous trips to Israel to collect information and prepare for the attack, which he initially planned to carry out in July. However, Al-Hammami changed his July plan after he developed a friendly relationship with one of the crew members. He allegedly planned to crash the aircraft into a US military base in Jordan if he was unable to reach .
According to reports, the attack took place while the aircraft was flying over Jordan, with Al-Hammami also interfering with its controls. He reportedly switched off the engines and pushed the rudders forward, causing the plane to lose 16,000 feet in altitude in less than a minute.
According to reports published by CNN and CBS News, citing Israeli sources, Al- may have acted as a ‘lone wolf.’ However, investigations are in full swing to determine the motive behind the attack. A LinkedIn profile with the same name showed that he worked at Oman Air for seven years, leaving in February last year, before joining the Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc in June 2025. Citing a source, CNN reported that the profile belongs to the Flydubai co-pilot accused in the incident. In a statement to AP, Royal Air Maroc stated that the suspect only trained with the airline for three months last year as part of the pre-employment process, but was not selected.
According to reports, Tel Aviv’s Tax Authority has confirmed that the names of all passengers and crew members were provided to the authorities before the flight took off, adding that the responsibility lay with the Transportation Ministry to provide answers on the matter of vetting.
Separately, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) is also investigating Al-Hammami’s links to the country.
