The co-pilot accused of trying to seize an Israel-bound flight intended to crash the aircraft into a terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in an attack modeled on 9/11, according to the UAE’s attorney general.
Hamam Al Hammami, 29, allegedly attacked Flydubai captain Smit Machchhar with the aircraft’s emergency axe as he attempted to take control of the plane during its flight to Tel Aviv last week.
Passengers and crew members fought with the Omani national as they tried to secure the cockpit. During the struggle, the aircraft plunged around 14,000 feet in only 29 seconds.
UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the alleged plot drew inspiration from the September 11 attacks. Investigators reportedly found that Al Hammami had taken two earlier flights to Tel Aviv to familiarise himself with both the route and the airport.
The suspect allegedly sought to take command of the aircraft “with the intention of causing the greatest possible number of human casualties,” the UAE’s chief prosecutor said in a statement published by the state-run WAM news agency.
According to the statement, Al Hammami told investigators he had acted alone and had no accomplices. In the presence of his lawyer, he allegedly gave a detailed confession describing his motives and the stages of the reported plan.
The investigation also indicated that he may have been radicalised at a mosque in Australia while studying at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2017.
Officials reviewed Flydubai’s hiring process and said Al Hammami had satisfied the airline’s professional and security requirements. He held a pilot’s licence and had submitted a certificate confirming a clean record.
Hamam al-Hammami, the suspected hijacker of the Flydubai aircraft, is an Omani national
The co-pilot (pictured) allegedly used the cockpit’s crash axe while attempting to seize control of the Flydubai plane
“None of the procedures, however, identified any evidence of extremist beliefs or plans for a terrorist attack,” Al Shamsi said.
The prosecutor added that Al Hammami told investigators he had trained mentally and physically for the alleged assault. That preparation reportedly included watching terrorist propaganda and taking boxing classes.
Before joining Flydubai, Al Hammami had been a trainee with Oman’s national airline in 2024. He was reportedly removed from flight duties after concerns emerged that he could have been influenced by radical groups, and was reassigned to an administrative position at Oman Air.
Flydubai later hired him in January 2026, although details about the depth of the co-pilot’s screening before his appointment were initially unclear.
A Gulf diplomat confirmed that Al Hammami underwent routine security checks before being employed. However, those checks appear to have concentrated on criminal convictions and may not have included a more extensive assessment of possible signs of radicalisation.
The UAE inquiry concluded that there were indications of Al Hammami moving towards “extremism and terrorism” as far back as 2017, when he was studying in Australia.
Royal Air Maroc also confirmed that Al Hammami completed a three-month training programme with the airline in 2025. His subsequent application for a job there was rejected.
Al Hammami was born in the UAE and is the son of a Syrian mother. He held Omani citizenship through his father and had also attended a British university.
While studying at Buckinghamshire New University, he allegedly used social media to promote violence against women, including praising the idea of giving them a “pre-emptive slap.” He completed a three-year distance-learning aviation degree in 2023.
Buckinghamshire New University said Al Hammami did not receive pilot training there. He is also understood to have studied engineering at an Australian university.
Al Hammami was born in the UAE and his mother is Syrian. He obtained Omani nationality from his father.
US and Israeli intelligence also believe the co-pilot planned to crash the plane into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport or a tower block in the city.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had been prepared to shoot the plane down to avoid an ‘Israeli 9/11’, sources told CBS News.
Passengers and crew, including the captain Mr Machchhar, have been hailed for their bravery in preventing what is believed to be an attempted suicide mission. One of whom is said to have been an off-duty British pilot.
Mr Machchhar was praised for saving the lives of those 174 passengers on board, which included four Americans. While cruising mid-air, the hero was able to fight off his co-pilot in the cockpit and his attempts to sabotage the plane’s systems.
Distressing footage showed Mr Machchhar lying on the ground covered in blood as passengers tended to his injuries, while another pilot is seen seemingly lying nearby unconscious. Passengers can be heard telling one of the men: ‘You saved the plane.’
Footage filmed by passengers shows wounded captain Smit Machchhar lying on the floor as others tend to him
According to reports by CNN, two posts were made to a LinkedIn page matching Al Hammami’s identity, just nine hours after the attack.
The first post reportedly featured a series of clips filmed in the cockpits of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft. One clip, geolocated to Dubai International Airport, zoomed in on the plane that belongs to the Israeli airline El Al.
The cockpit screen showed the flight number – OMA624 – and the date, October 11, 2023, which matches the time when Al Hammami worked at Oman Air. The flight number corresponds to a flight that usually travels from Dubai to Muscat.
Other clips showed more planes from El Al, and one from another Israeli airline, Arkia.
It ends with a photo of Ayman al-Zawahiri, who led Al Qaeda after Osama Bin Laden’s death, and a photo of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who killed nine people in a 2009 suicide bombing.
The second post on the profile shows an AI-generated image of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem – Islam’s three holiest sites – linked by a glowing trail. In the background, a poem is being recited, speaking of rejecting humiliation, not fearing death and defending one’s dignity.
On the day of the attack, BNU said its licence to sponsor international students had been suspended by the Home Office over fears regarding its compliance with sponsorship duties.
It said ‘many of the issues raised by the Home Office relate to historic international student recruitment activity’.
The Home Office said the suspension had been unrelated to Al Hammami or the Flydubai attack.
The LinkedIn account linked to Al Hammami, which has now been deleted, showed he worked at Oman Air for seven years, leaving in February 2025, and joined Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 before departing in January 2026. It made no mention of Flydubai.
