The co-pilot of a Flydubai plane attempted to carry out a terrorist attack during the flight to Tel Aviv

The UAE Attorney General, Counselor Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, announced that investigations into the Flydubai flight FZ1073 incident revealed that the plane’s co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist operation.

The Public Prosecutor explained that the plane’s co-pilot began implementing his plan during the flight, as he assaulted the plane’s pilot inside the cockpit, using the “Crash Axe,” and tried to control the plane’s controls, according to what the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

The Public Prosecutor confirmed that investigations are still underway to uncover all the circumstances of the incident, its motives, and the connections associated with it, in addition to completing technical examinations and examining physical and digital evidence, with the final results being announced as soon as the necessary procedures are completed.

The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv came close to disaster on Wednesday morning, when the attacker stabbed his captain.

People on board the plane said in interviews that the captain, who was severely injured, was able to open the cockpit door, allowing a group of passengers and crew members to control the attacker, while two reserve pilots who were on board the flight were able to regain control of the plane, stabilize it, and then land it safely.

CNN revealed, citing sources, that the plane's co-pilot was named Humam Al-Hammami.

The American Wall Street Journal quoted informed sources as saying that the co-pilot had previously been banned from flying in the Sultanate of Oman, due to fears that he might embrace extremist ideological ideas. The sources added that the pilot was hired by Fly Dubai, which allowed him to fly flights on the route linking the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

The American Wall Street Journal quoted informed sources as saying that the Flydubai co-pilot, who stabbed his captain and almost caused Flight 1073 to crash to the ground, had previously been banned from flying in the Sultanate of Oman, due to fears that he might embrace extremist ideological ideas.

The sources added that the pilot was hired by Fly Dubai, which allowed him to fly flights on the route linking the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

The UAE Attorney General, Counselor Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, confirmed on Saturday that investigations into the incident revealed that the plane’s co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist operation. He explained that the plane's co-pilot began implementing his plan during the flight, as he assaulted the plane's pilot inside the cockpit, using the "emergency axe," and tried to control the plane's controls, according to what the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

Hammam Al-Hammami

Two sources and an Israeli official told CNN that the co-pilot is an Omani citizen named Humam Al-Hamami. One of the sources added that Al-Humami was born in the UAE to an Omani father and a Syrian mother, and spent many years of his life in the Emirates.

Al-Hamami’s page on LinkedIn stated that he studied at Buckinghamshire New University in England, and a source for the American network indicated that Al-Hamami completed a 3-year distance education study program, and graduated with a degree in aviation management in 2023.

A diplomatic source familiar with the case told CNN that the suspect was excluded from a training program due to fears that he would adopt extremist ideas, noting that he was transferred to another job within the company.

“History” of Al-Hammami via “LinkedIn”

According to CNN, a personal profile on LinkedIn bearing the name Hammam Al-Hamami showed that he worked for Oman Air for 7 years and left in February 2025, before joining Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 and leaving in January 2026, without the file referring to his work with Flydubai. One source confirmed that this profile actually belongs to the Flydubai pilot involved in Wednesday’s incident. It is noteworthy that the file was later deleted.

Royal Air Maroc later stated, in a statement to the Associated Press, that the plane’s co-pilot “completed a three-month theoretical training period with the company in 2025, as part of pre-employment procedures.” At the end of that training period, his application was not selected for employment.” She did not reveal more details.

On the other hand, Keith Coles, a spokesman for Buckinghamshire New University in England, told the Associated Press that the co-pilot had previously completed a distance training course in aviation management there, but “did not undergo any pilot training.” He did not reveal further details about the timing of that.

According to CNN, Al-Hamami only published two posts on his LinkedIn account, both of which were published in quick succession on Wednesday, about 9 hours after the incident occurred. It is not clear who posted these posts, or whether they were scheduled in advance. The first publication included a series of video clips inside the cockpit of a Boeing 737 MAX.

A video bearing a picture of Al-Zawahiri

In one of the clips - whose geographical location was determined by CNN to be at Dubai International Airport - the person filming the video zooms in to reveal planes belonging to the Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia.

The cockpit screen in the video showed the flight number - OMA624 - and the date: October 11, 2023. This flight number matches a flight that usually departs from Dubai to Muscat, and the date also corresponds to the period in which the aforementioned person worked for “Oman Air.”

The video ends with a picture of Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who led Al-Qaeda after the killing of Osama bin Laden, and a picture of Humam Khalil Abu Malal Al-Balawi, who was loyal to Al-Qaeda and killed 9 people - including 7 officers and contractors from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - in a suicide attack during 2009.

The UAE authorities are leading the investigation into the incident. An Emirati government spokesman declined to comment on the attacker’s record in Oman, saying that it is not permissible to “anticipate the results of the investigation, or influence its course.”

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the near-shooting down of the Flydubai plane on Wednesday as a terrorist act. He said that the attacker “came with the aim of shooting down the plane and everyone on it.”

Aviation security analysts said that the incident represented a major security failure. They added that while an error in screening procedures might have allowed a weapon to pass through, an attacker with such motives should have been discovered and arrested long before he arrived at the airport.

An Israeli official told CNN on Wednesday that several Israeli agencies - including the Shin Bet, the Mossad, the army, and the Ministry of Transport - are conducting investigations to find out how the Omani pilot joined the flight crew.

Netanyahu revealed that Israel is investigating whether the pilot carried out the attack alone, or was working in coordination with other people.

The pilot and co-pilot are under investigation in the Emirates, after they were transferred there on Thursday from Tabuk, where the plane made an emergency landing. Israel hopes to be able to interrogate the attacker.

The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv came close to disaster on Wednesday morning, when the attacker stabbed his captain.

People on board the plane said in interviews that the captain, who was severely injured, was able to open the cockpit door, allowing a group of passengers and crew members to control the attacker, while two reserve pilots who were on board the flight were able to regain control of the plane, stabilize it, and then land it safely.