Emma Bouvin: This is what we now know about what happened on the plane

What was it that happened?

The plane from the airline company Flydubai was on its way from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Tel Aviv in Israel and had about an hour left in the journey when it suddenly plunged above 5000 meters. Distress signals were sent out and Israeli warplanes responded by engaging the plane, which was somewhere over the border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia. There were roughly 170 people on board, most of them Israelis. Initially there were reports of an altercation between the two pilots, one of whom was said to be Russian and the other Ukrainian, but this turned out to be completely off the air. The plane finally managed to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia and it was only then that information about a failed terrorist attack began to trickle out.

How could the co-pilot take over the cockpit?

At first it was said that he had attacked Indian Air Captain Smit Machchhar with a knife, but it has since emerged that it was an emergency ax that was inside the cockpit. Machchhar said it started when the co-pilot, a man identified as Hamam al-Hammami from Oman, asked to pray. Out of respect, Smit Machchhar looked ahead to give al-Hammami space for his faith. A few minutes later he felt a bang on the back of his head.

What happened next?

Smit Machchhar testifies that the co-pilot thrashed and thrashed and that he felt the plane begin to lose altitude. He could hardly see from all the violence to his head, but could hear people shouting on the other side of the cockpit door. He somehow managed to use his last strength to open the lock on the door, whereupon a passenger, Yaniv Hayun, ran in and overpowered al-Hammami. While other passengers held the co-pilot down, Hayun managed to get the plunging plane right, before two idle pilots took over, he himself has said.

Why were two other pilots on the plane?

They were on board to go on their shift and fly the plane back to Dubai.

What is known so far about the co-pilot's motives?

It has emerged that Hamam al-Hammami was fired as a pilot at the state-owned Omani airline, Oman Air, because of suspicions that he was being radicalised. The company sent him to a deradicalization course and reassigned him to a desk job, but does not appear to have flagged him externally. When he was hired by Flydubai, there was no call for references from his previous employer.

After questioning al-Hammami in the United Arab Emirates, Israeli and international media reported that he intended to carry out an attack on Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. The plan must have been to crash the plane towards the airport. An alternative if he failed would have been to hit an American military base in Jordan instead.

US President Donald Trump has said that Iran is behind the plans. What does he mean by that?

The president has not developed his theory. Vice President JD Vance, however, has said that so far there is no evidence that al-Hammami has acted on behalf of any state or organization.

What happens now?

The investigation against the co-pilot continues in the United Arab Emirates. The Israeli security service Shin Bet is participating in the interrogation. In addition, a parallel investigation is underway into how Hamam al-Hamami was able to obtain permission from Israeli authorities to fly to Tel Aviv. Israel has no diplomatic relations with Oman and pilots from there should not be allowed to operate on the sensitive Dubai-Tel Aviv route.

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