Omani co-pilot arrested after crash-axe attack on Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight

Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami allegedly attacked the captain of a Dubai-Tel Aviv Flydubai flight before passengers subdued him and the aircraft landed in Saudi Arabia.

• Passengers overpowered the co-pilot after he attacked the captain with a crash axe, and two reserve pilots landed the plane in Saudi Arabia.
• UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the investigation revealed the co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act.
• Regional officials said the UAE shared passenger and crew lists with Israel before takeoff and Israel raised no security objections.
• Australian Federal Police confirmed an investigation into the co-pilot's links to Australia, where his student visa was cancelled in 2019.
• The captain of the flight was identified as Smit Machchhar.
• Passenger Yaniv Hayoun reportedly helped stabilize the aircraft during the attack.
• The flight made a rapid descent of over 5,180 meters before landing in Saudi Arabia.
• The co-pilot had previously been barred from flying in Oman over concerns about alleged extremist views.
• Israel acknowledged a security loophole in its checks and said it would strengthen vetting procedures.
• The co-pilot reportedly studied in Melbourne and visited radical mosques in Australia, police and intelligence investigators said.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the security loophole in Israel's screening of the flight crew.
• Israeli officials said the co-pilot planned to crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport or a US military base in Jordan to cause mass casualties.