flydubai co-pilot planned Ben Gurion crash in 9/11-style attack: Reports

An Omani co-pilot accused of attacking the captain of a flydubai flight allegedly planned to crash the aircraft at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, reports said. The plot was foiled after the injured Indian captain and passengers restrained him, enabling a safe landing 

Jerusalem: The Omani co-pilot who attempted to crash a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv had planned to deliberately crash the aircraft into a building or another plane at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, according to reports in the Israeli media.

Hamam Al-Hammami, an Omani first officer who is currently under arrest, reportedly told investigators in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that he intended to continue operating flydubai Flight 1073 normally after killing the aircraft’s captain, Indian pilot Smit Machchhar.

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According to the reports, his plan was to obtain the necessary landing clearances without arousing suspicion and then crash the aircraft into a building or another jet at the airport in an attack resembling the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Quoting sources, Ynet reported that Al-Hammami told investigators that he intended to initiate the plan while the aircraft was over Jordan and approaching Israel. By waiting until the final stage of the flight, he believed that he would prevent anyone from understanding what was happening in time to alert authorities or stop him from carrying out the plan.

The reports further said that Al-Hammami had also told investigators that if he was unable to crash the aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport, he planned to target a skyscraper in Tel Aviv or one of the US military bases in Jordan. However, the plan was thwarted after Captain Machchhar, despite suffering serious injuries, fought back against the co-pilot.

The Indian pilot managed to send distress signals and open the cockpit door, enabling crew members and passengers to intervene and restrain Al-Hammami. Two off-duty pilots travelling on the aircraft subsequently helped regain control of the plane and safely landed it in Saudi Arabia, preventing the attack from being carried out.

Captain Machchhar, who is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Abu Dhabi, recounted the attack during a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday. He said that Al-Hammami had asked to pray shortly before attacking him with a crash axe.

Machchhar recalled that the first blow landed heavily on his head and that he initially believed the aircraft itself had suffered some kind of impact. At first, Captain Machchhar said he thought the plane had been hit. However, as the assault continued, he realised that the danger was coming from the person sitting beside him in the cockpit. “The blows kept coming. I realised that it’s not the aircraft; it’s the other guy who was in the cockpit with me,” Machchhar said.

Sources cited by Israel’s Channel 12 reportedly said that Al-Hammami had initially intended to carry out the plan in July but postponed the operation at the last moment because he was friends with one of the crew members. Reports also stated that Al-Hammami had flown to Ben Gurion Airport several times in the months before the incident after joining flydubai.

According to the reports, he told investigators that during a visit to Israel in June, he concentrated on gathering information and preparing for the alleged attack. A Channel 13 report said that the Omani co-pilot had planned the attack even before joining flydubai, the low-cost Emirati airline that operates flights between Israel and the UAE.

“I looked into which airline flies to Tel Aviv. That’s why I chose flydubai. I planned it even before I was accepted,” he reportedly told investigators. The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that after attacking Captain Machchhar, Al-Hammami switched off the aircraft’s engines and pushed the rudders forward.

According to the report, the actions caused the aircraft to lose around 16,000 feet of altitude in less than a minute, bringing it close to the speed of sound. As the investigation into the flydubai incident continues, preliminary details have also raised questions about possible security lapses and the process through which the co-pilot was cleared to operate the flight.

Officials have already said that Al-Hammami’s own country had previously barred him from flying because of concerns related to his alleged extremist views. Questions have also been raised over how an Omani citizen, from an Arab country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, was permitted to operate a flight carrying Israeli passengers to Tel Aviv.

Al-Hammami, 29, is an Omani citizen whose father is Omani and mother Syrian. He had lived in Syria during the country’s civil war and had reportedly posted messages online expressing support for al-Qaeda. It also remains unclear how flydubai failed to identify Al-Hammami as a potential security concern before allowing him to serve as a co-pilot on flights to Israel.

Regional officials told the Associated Press that Emirati authorities had shared information concerning passengers and crew members, including their nationalities. However, the officials said that Israel had not raised any red flags concerning either passengers or members of the crew.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation. Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, said that the Transportation Ministry is responsible for vetting passenger lists received from foreign flights.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev, in a post on X, said that responsibility for flight security lies with the security agencies and that her ministry had not been provided with a passenger list or received any warnings concerning the flight. Sharing passenger and crew information is considered a standard aviation procedure.

However, Dvir Rubenstien, head of aviation security at Israel’s Transportation Ministry, told Army Radio that the ministry relies on security checks carried out locally and does not possess the tools or capacity to independently conduct checks on every passenger travelling on every flight.