A FlyDubai co-pilot attacked the captain of a passenger jet with a crash axe in a foiled hijacking attempt that officials in the United Arab Emirates have described as an attempted act of terrorism. The co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073, the UAE Attorney-General said.
The co-pilot began executing his plan during the flight, attacking the captain inside the flight deck using a crash axe and attempting to take control of the aircraft’s flight controls, the UAE Attorney-General said. A crash axe is typically kept in the cockpit for use during emergencies such as crashes, according to news reporting on cockpit equipment, making its use as a weapon in the alleged attack especially unusual.
Chaos in the Cockpit
The incident occurred on Wednesday on a flight carrying 174 mostly Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv, according to a news report citing eyewitnesses and Israeli officials. The plane carried 182 people on board and nearly crashed before passengers rushed in and subdued the co-pilot, the United Arab Emirates, which is leading the investigation, said.
A crash was averted when crew and passengers were able to enter the cabin and subdue the alleged attacker, eyewitnesses and Israeli officials said. The captain, battered but conscious, played a critical role in ending the standoff. The captain used his remaining energy while being attacked to unlock the cockpit door, allowing people to come in, tackle the co-pilot and stabilize the flight, the captain said.
With the cockpit in turmoil, a reserve flydubai pilot traveling on the flight took control of the aircraft and landed it at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, according to news reporting on the incident. The emergency landing brought the ordeal to an end and allowed authorities to take the suspect into custody.
Suspect Identified, Transferred to Abu Dhabi
The pilot suspected of carrying out the attack was an Omani citizen who was transferred from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi on Thursday, the Saudi Interior Ministry said. He was identified as Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Details about his background have begun to emerge in the days since the attack. A regional official said the co-pilot was born in the UAE and his mother is Syrian. That mixed background, combined with his professional history, has become a focal point for investigators trying to piece together how and why the alleged attack unfolded.
Perhaps most alarming to aviation officials is the revelation that al-Hammami had already raised red flags before he ever boarded flight FZ1073. The co-pilot had been barred from flying on Oman Air because of concerns about extremist views, officials said. It remains unclear how, despite that history, he came to be in the cockpit of a FlyDubai aircraft carrying nearly 200 people.
Digital Trail and the Hunt for a Motive
Investigators have also been combing through al-Hammami’s online activity for clues about his state of mind in the days and hours before the flight. The co-pilot’s Instagram account was active until the day of the flight and then deleted, according to news reporting on the investigation. The timing of the deletion, coinciding so closely with the attack itself, has drawn particular scrutiny from those trying to reconstruct his final movements and mindset before boarding.
The scale of the response to the incident underscores how seriously regional governments are treating the case. Investigators from four regional countries are working to establish the co-pilot’s motives, aided by the United States and other Western governments, a Gulf diplomat said. The involvement of multiple nations, including Western intelligence and security services, suggests authorities view the case as having implications well beyond a single flight or a single airline.
The fact that the flight was carrying mostly Israeli passengers has added another layer of sensitivity to the investigation, though officials have not detailed a specific motive tied to the passenger makeup. With the UAE Attorney-General explicitly characterizing the act as an attempted act of terrorism, the case is likely to draw continued attention from aviation security regulators, airline operators, and governments across the region who will be watching closely for findings that could reshape how airlines screen and monitor flight crew members, particularly those with prior red flags in their employment histories.
For now, the passengers and crew of flight FZ1073 are left to reckon with how close the flight came to catastrophe, and how the quick actions of a reserve pilot, a battered captain, and passengers willing to storm the cockpit prevented a far worse outcome. The investigation into al-Hammami’s background, his online presence, and his ties across the Gulf region continues, with authorities from several countries working together to answer the central question that remains unresolved: why a trained co-pilot, already flagged for extremist concerns by one airline, allegedly turned a crash axe into a weapon meant to bring down a plane carrying nearly 200 people to Tel Aviv.
