flydubai co-pilot admits planning hijack before joining airline
October 5, 2026 at 06:39 AM · Updated 11d ago
12 reports · 3 in Arabic, 9 in English · over 112 hours
Flydubai co-pilot originally planned attack for July, investigators believe
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Alleged Flydubai hijacker likely wanted to target Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, sources say
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فانس: لم نر دليلا على صلة لإيران بحادث "فلاي دبي"
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Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash plane into Tel Aviv airport or building, reports say
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الشرطة الأسترالية تحقق في صلات بمساعد طيار "فلاي دبي"
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Alleged flydubai attacker left Australia without finishing engineering course, university says
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هل سافر مساعد طيار فلاي دبي سابقا إلى إسرائيل؟
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Flydubai hijacking attempt exposes worrying gaps in aviation security
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Co-pilot accused of trying to hijack Flydubai plane probably acted alone, Israeli sources say
(opens the publisher’s site)Terrorist images found on Flydubai suspect’s social media
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‘I couldn’t let everybody else die,’ says hero Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar
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What happened inside the Flydubai flight to Israel?
(opens the publisher’s site)An Omani co-pilot accused of hijacking a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv admitted he chose the airline for its Israel route, interrogation excerpts show.
- RMIT University confirmed the co-pilot, named by media as Hammam al-Hammami, was enrolled but did not complete an engineering qualification.
- The UAE prosecutor general said al-Hammami allegedly used a crash axe in an attempted attack in which the pilot was stabbed, with 182 people aboard.
- Israeli Channel 13 broadcast excerpts in which al-Hammami admitted he chose flydubai because it flies to Tel Aviv and planned the act before being hired.
- Channel 12 reported al-Hammami said he planned to crash the plane at Ben Gurion airport and attacked the pilot over Jordanian airspace, near Israel.
- Australian police said a joint counter-terrorism task force is investigating the co-pilot's links to Australia.
- US and Israeli reports said al-Hammami planned to crash the plane into Ben Gurion airport or a tower block.
- Passengers aboard overpowered al-Hammami after he attacked the captain, and the aircraft landed in Saudi Arabia.
- US Vice President JD Vance said the United States has not yet seen conclusive evidence of Iranian involvement in the incident.
- Investigators believe al-Hammami originally planned the attack for July and postponed it, possibly because a friend was among the crew.
- Investigators said he previously worked for Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc, with authorities probing his background in at least eight countries.