UAE confirms flydubai copilot was planning 9/11-style ‘suicide attack’ on Ben Gurion Airport

The United Arab Emirates said on Friday that the Omani first officer of flydubai’s Flight 1073 had planned to seize the flight on September 30 and crash it into a terminal at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, in a suicide attack inspired by the September 11, 2001, attacks on America, before he was thwarted by his fellow pilot and several passengers.

The statement covered by the UAE’s state news agency confirmed multiple reports on the matter from the start of the week.

Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi’s statement did not appear to implicate flydubai in any wrongdoing, and contained the most detailed account yet from prosecutors about what they believe to have happened.

Flydubai was not immediately available for comment.

Al-Shamsi said the suspect used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to “familiarize himself with the flight route and the airport” before attempting to carry out his attack.

The suspect, identified as Hamam al-Hammami, confessed to acting alone, the UAE said, but the attorney general said an investigation was still ongoing into possible accomplices.

Al-Shamsi said the suspect told investigators he had prepared psychologically and physically for the attack by viewing material promoting terrorism and taking boxing lessons.

The attorney general said the suspect worked for several airlines in different countries in the past, including Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc, before joining flydubai in January 2026.

The investigation found there were signs of the suspect drifting toward “extremism and terrorism” as early as 2017, while he was studying in Australia.

Royal Air Maroc said he underwent three months of training there in 2025, adding that his application to work for the airline thereafter was rejected.

Shin Bet officials are in the UAE to take part in the pilot’s interrogation.

Investigators examined flydubai’s recruiting procedures and found the suspect had met all professional and security requirements, including holding a pilot’s licence and providing a certificate of good conduct.

“However, none of the procedures revealed any indications of his extremist views or his intention to carry out a terrorist plot,” al-Shamsi added.

The aircraft was in Saudi airspace when the copilot attacked the captain with a crash axe, typically kept in the cockpit for use during emergencies.

The badly injured Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, managed to open the cockpit door. Hammami was then overwhelmed by Israeli passengers and two other pilots who were on board and landed the aircraft safely in Saudi Arabia. The suspect was transferred to the UAE, flydubai’s home country.

During the incident, the airliner plunged 16,000 feet (4,900 meters) in 30 seconds. It is thought that once he realized his plan to reach Tel Aviv was lost, Hammami put the plane into a dive in an attempt to crash it. Passengers have described him attempting to destroy cockpit equipment as they fought to subdue him.

Hebrew media reports have said Hammami was 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 his attack, according to Hebrew outlets.

He then plotted to attack in July, but ended up canceling his plan at the last moment as he was friends with one of the crew members on that flight.

Hammami has been reported to have 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 Ynet news site quoted a senior Emirati source on Sunday as saying Hammami is expected to face the death penalty. The report said Abu Dhabi wants to impose on him the harshest possible penalty.