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Sunday, October 4, 2026
Reports: Terrorist copilot intended to crash plane into Ben Gurion Airport; he canceled July attack plan at last moment
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Hamam al-Hammami, the Omani copilot who attempted to bring down flydubai Flight 1073, intended to crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport, Channel 12 and Ynet report.
According to the reports, which do not offer sources for the information about the investigation, Hammami, who is under arrest and being interrogated in the United Arab Emirates, told investigators that he intended to continue the flight as normal after disposing of the captain, to receive all necessary landing clearances, and to then crash into a building or jet at the airport.
This deviation at the last moment would have prevented anyone from realizing what was happening, raising the alert and stopping him from carrying out his plan.
Channel 12 says this was why Hammami waited until the aircraft was over Jordan to seize control of the cockpit. He was foiled because Captain Smit Machchhar, despite being attacked and stabbed by Hammami, managed to open the cockpit door, enabling a handful of Israelis to tackle and immobilize Hammami, with one of them stabilizing the plane before two off-duty pilots on board took over the controls.
The network says Hammami had been at Ben Gurion Airport several times in recent months after flying in with flydubai. He told investigators that when he came in June, he devoted his entire focus to collecting intelligence and planning out his attack.
He then plotted to carry out the attack in July, but ended up canceling his plan at the last moment as he was friends with one of the crew members.
Channel 12 stresses that Israeli investigators have not themselves questioned Hammami, and that the information comes from details of the Saudi and Emirati investigations conveyed to Israel. Israel has asked the UAE to expand its questioning to include the flight attendants, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Channel 13 says Hammami told investigators: “I looked into which airline flies to Tel Aviv. That’s why I chose flydubai. I planned it even before I was accepted.”
The Times of Israel Community.