Flydubai's Tel Aviv flight was a terrorist act: UAE attorney general

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Flydubai’s Tel Aviv flight was a planned terrorist act, says UAE attorney general

Editorial Team

October 3, 2026

Flydubais Tel Aviv flight was a planned terrorist act — Flydubai pilot Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national, who stabbed the captain and attempted to hijack the plane carrying Israeli passengers and crash it while en route to Tel Aviv. September 30, 2026.. Photo: SM/via DubaiDiplomacy.com

The co-pilot was identified as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani citizen. He was removed from a previous job at Oman’s national airline over extremist views

ABU DHABI,— Investigations into the incident on flydubai flight FZ1073, bound for Tel Aviv, found that the Omani co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act, according to Counsellor Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, the UAE Attorney-General, according to the state news agency WAM.

During the flight, the co-pilot started carrying out his plan.

He attacked the captain in the cockpit with a crash axe and attempted to seize control of the aircraft’s flight controls, Al Shamsi said.

Crash axes are typically stored in the cockpit and are intended for use during emergencies, particularly when an aircraft has been involved in a crash.

Investigators are still working to determine the full circumstances, motives and any links to the incident, the Attorney-General said.

They are also completing technical examinations and analyzing physical and digital evidence.

The co-pilot was identified as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani citizen, according to two sources and an Israeli official. Saudi Arabia media also identified him.

FlyDubai airplane, Boeing 737 MAX, 2022. Photo: Creative Commons/wikimedia

Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, wrote on X on Friday that the incident was “a dangerous terrorist act” that could have led to disaster.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the co-pilot, an Omani national, had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination and appeared to be suicidal.

Two sources familiar with the matter told CNN that the co-pilot suspected of attacking the first pilot aboard a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight on Wednesday was removed from a previous job at Oman’s national airline last year over concerns about his extremist views.

Hamam al-Hammami was born in the United Arab Emirates to an Omani father and a Syrian mother, and he spent several years of his life in the UAE, one of the sources added.

A LinkedIn profile bearing the name Hamam al-Hammami says he worked at Oman Air for seven years, leaving in February 2025. It says he joined Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 and departed in January 2026.

The page does not mention Flydubai. One of the sources confirmed that the profile belongs to the pilot involved in Wednesday’s incident. The profile has since been deleted, and CNN has contacted LinkedIn for comment.

A second source, a diplomat from the region, told CNN the suspect was removed from flight training because of concerns about his radical views and was given another role at Oman’s national airline.

On Wednesday, Israeli passengers and crew stopped the co-pilot after he stabbed the captain on flight FZ1073, which was carrying 182 passengers and crew members on board.

A flydubai reserve pilot who was traveling on the flight took control of the plane and landed it at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Saudi authorities detained the co-pilot there. He was transferred to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.

Dubai’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, visited flydubai hero pilot Captain Smit Machchhar in hospital in Dubai on Saturday.

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