Foiled attack on Flydubai flight: Co-pilot apparently planned to dive into Tel Aviv airport
According to new reports, the arrested co-pilot wanted to crash a Flydubai plane at Ben-Gurion Airport. Passengers overpowered the attacker.
Quick Look
- After a foiled terrorist attack on a Flydubai flight, the Omani co-pilot attempted to crash the plane at Tel Aviv airport, according to reports.
- Passengers overpowered him and the plane landed in Saudi Arabia.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
A Flydubai flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia after an attempted cockpit attack by the co-pilot.
After the foiled terrorist attack on a Flydubai flight, new details become known: According to Israeli media reports, the co-pilot wanted to crash the plane at Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
The arrested suspect from Oman, Hamam al-Hammami, is said to have said this during interrogations in the United Arab Emirates. Accordingly, he planned to initially continue flight FZ1073 as normal after the captain was eliminated, obtain all necessary landing permits and then steer it into a building or an aircraft at the airport.
Israeli investigators have not yet interviewed al-Hammami themselves. According to the reports, the findings were passed on to the Israeli authorities by investigators from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Israel has asked the UAE to extend the interrogations to flight attendants.
Channel 13 quoted the co-pilot as saying: "I researched which airline flies to Tel Aviv. That's why I chose Flydubai. I planned it before I was accepted."
According to reports, the exact timing was as follows:
9:15 a.m. (local time): The co-pilot asked if he could pray and then attacked the pilot with an emergency ax from the aircraft's safety equipment,
9:20 a.m.: Passengers noticed the fight in the cockpit. When the door could be opened, a passenger is said to have shouted: “He’s killing the pilot!”
9:21 a.m.: After his original plan failed, the co-pilot attempted to put the aircraft into a dive and damage the controls. Several Israeli passengers then stormed the cockpit and overpowered him.
9:31 a.m.: According to the “Corriere della Sera,” the off-duty pilots who took over the plane initially sent the general emergency code 7700.
9:38 a.m.: After the attacker was brought under control, they changed the code to 7500, the signal for unauthorized access to the cockpit.
Saudi air traffic control then instructed the crew to make an emergency landing in Tabuk.
10:57 a.m.: The plane touched down in Tabuk.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Extension of interrogations to flight attendants
Likely · Within days
Open Questions
- What other background does the crime have?
- Will the suspect be extradited to Israel?
