UAE says flydubai copilot used cockpit emergency ax to attack captain in ‘terrorist act’
Gulf state’s top prosecutor says probe into Omani attacker ongoing; Dubai’s crown prince visits wounded captain, says he ’embodied highest degrees of courage, care for human life’
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The copilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 attempted to carry out a “terrorist attack” with an ax during Wednesday morning’s Israel-bound flight, the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general said on Saturday as the country continued its investigation into the incident.
The attacker was identified as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national who had previously been banned from flying by Oman over concerns that he had been radicalized, officials told the Associated Press. UAE authorities did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of his identity.
Oman has not commented on the incident.
“Investigations into the incident involving flydubai flight FZ1073 found that the copilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist attack,” Prosecutor General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said in a statement carried by the UAE’s state news agency.
The prosecutor general’s comments were the first by Emirati investigators to describe the incident as an attempted terrorist attack.
Hammami attacked Machchhar inside the cockpit with a crash ax and attempted to take control of the aircraft, the prosecutor general said. A crash ax is typically kept in cockpits for use during emergencies, in case the pilots must cut through electronics to put out a fire or break the windshield to escape the aircraft.
The Boeing 737 flight was carrying 174 passengers, almost all of them Israelis, when the copilot stabbed the pilot in an apparent attempt to crash the plane, which plunged nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 meters) in less than 30 seconds.
Captain Smit Machchhar, covered in blood, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing Israeli passengers to charge inside to overpower the copilot and tie him up and stabilize the plane, while other pilots who happened to be onboard brought the plane to an emergency landing in Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
On Saturday Dubai’s crown prince, who is also the UAE’s defense minister, visited Machchhar in the UAE hospital where he is currently recovering.
During a visit to Captain Smit Machchhar… the flydubai pilot who embodied the highest degrees of courage, responsibility, and care for human life.
From us, and from the leadership of the nation, he has our full appreciation and praise.
We are proud that he is part of our… pic.twitter.com/QgpQxdcK5C
— Hamdan bin Mohammed (@HamdanMohammed) October 3, 2026
Machchhar “embodied the highest degrees of courage, responsibility, and care for human life,” Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum said in a statement. “From us, and from the leadership of the nation, he has our full appreciation and praise.
“We are proud that he is part of our team… part of the story of our nation… and part of what the UAE stands for. A nation of compassion, a nation of peace, and a nation of life.”
The investigation into the flight FZ1073, including the suspect’s motives, is ongoing, and the findings will be released once the “necessary procedures” have been completed, the prosecutor general said. The UAE is leading the investigation, and the co-pilot is still in custody in the country. The airline is owned by Dubai’s government.
The new details raised questions about how thoroughly flydubai vets potential employees, and how the co-pilot’s presence on a flight filled with Israeli passengers got past Israel’s strict security protocols.
Israel’s government has said it has agreements with foreign carriers to keep pilots of nations without diplomatic ties from flying there. Israel and Oman don’t have formal diplomatic relations. The UAE government has earned a reputation for effective measures against extremist activities but has bristled in the past over criticism of security lapses.
Following the release of the prosecutor general’s statement, Anwar Gargash, a senior advisor to the UAE president, said on X that the Gulf country had zero tolerance for terrorism and would show no leniency toward extremist rhetoric.
“The region’s struggle with extremism persists, and justifying terrorism through hate speech is part of the danger, not its margins. The latest terrorist operation is a new warning that the confrontation has not ended,” Gargash wrote.
“Here, the importance of the UAE’s early and firm stance is confirmed: no tolerance for extremism and no leniency toward its discourse, for security begins with confronting hate and drying up the sources of extremism,” he added.
صراع المنطقة مع التطرف مستمر، وتبرير الإرهاب بخطاب الكراهية جزء من الخطر لا هامشه. والعملية الإرهابية الأخيرة إنذار جديد بأن المواجهة لم تنته.
هنا تتأكد أهمية موقف الإمارات المبكر والحازم فلا تسامح مع التطرف ولا تهاون مع خطابه، فالأمن يبدأ من مواجهة الكراهية وتجفيف منابع التطرف.
— د. أنور قرقاش (@AnwarGargash) October 3, 2026
Flydubai said the circumstances surrounding the incident were still under investigation and that it was not in a position to comment further, a spokesperson said on Saturday.
In his first public comments on the incident, flydubai Chief Executive Ghaith al Ghaith on Friday said that the flight diverted after a “safety incident” inside the cockpit.
New details on co-pilot emerge
Separately, a regional official and a person familiar with the matter said the copilot had been barred from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted extremist views. The official said he was moved to an administrative job at Oman Air. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.
The copilot was later hired by UAE-based airline flydubai, the person said. It was not immediately clear to what extent the co-pilot was vetted.
The Gulf diplomat said he had undergone standard security checks before being hired, but it appears that the checks focused on whether he had been convicted on criminal charges and didn’t go deeper into examining his background for potential signs of radicalization.
The regional official also said security agencies from four regional countries were working to establish the copilot’s motives, aided by the United States and other Western governments.
The Gulf diplomat said investigations were trying to establish whether the co-pilot acted alone or “has any connection with any extremist groups.”
The regional official said the copilot was born in the UAE and his mother is Syrian. He obtained Omani nationality from his father, also an Omani national.
The regional official also said the co-pilot had traveled to Syria, with no details.
A flydubai spokesperson said in an email that the airline could not comment beyond its official statements and acknowledged “there are many questions at this stage.” There was no immediate comment from Oman Air, and Oman’s government has said nothing publicly in response to repeated questions since the incident.
In a statement to the AP, Royal Air Maroc, Morocco’s national carrier, said the co-pilot “completed a three-month theoretical training period with the airline in 2025, as part of the pre-employment process. At the end of this training period, his application was not selected for employment.” There were no details.
Keith Coles, a spokesperson for Buckinghamshire New University in England, told the AP that al-Hammami previously completed a distance-learning course in aviation management there but “did not undertake any pilot training.” There were no details on the timing.
Little else was immediately known about the co-pilot’s background. His Instagram account was active until the day of the flight and then deleted.
The Times of Israel Community.