Flydubai Attack: UAE Says Co-Pilot Tried to Seize Control of Plane

UAE authorities have described the actions of a flydubai co-pilot who attacked the captain during a flight to Israel as an attempted “terrorist act”, saying he used the cockpit’s emergency axe and tried to take control of the aircraft.

The initial findings were announced by UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, who said investigators were still examining the incident and had not disclosed the suspect’s motive.

WAM, the UAE’s state news agency, reported that the investigation had not established the co-pilot’s nationality. A Saudi source, however, confirmed to AFP that the suspect was Omani.

“The co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist act” and had “attacked the captain in the cockpit with the emergency axe and tried to take control of the aircraft”, Al Shamsi was quoted as saying.

The suspect remains in UAE custody, while several media organisations identified him as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami. Reports also claimed that he had been prevented from flying in Oman because of concerns about extremist views.

The incident occurred aboard a flydubai flight after the co-pilot attacked the Indian captain. The captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to intervene, overpower the attacker and force the plane to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

According to passengers, people rushed toward the cockpit as they fought to regain control after the aircraft lost about 17,000 feet of altitude in just one minute, according to Flightradar24.

The incident led to the suspension of flights, with the first flight carrying Israelis back to Israel from the UAE later landing in Tel Aviv, according to Israel’s airport authority website.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has alleged that the suspect underwent “Islamist radical indoctrination” and attempted to crash the aircraft.

Reports from the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Al Arabiya and ABC News separately cited sources who said the suspect had faced concerns over extremist views, including claims that he had been removed from a job at Oman’s national airline and had allegedly possessed extremist material while training.

Al Arabiya also reported that the suspect had spent time in Syria, where authorities were concerned he may have been influenced by radical groups.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump warned that Iran would be “hit very hard” if an investigation established a link between Tehran and the attack.

Netanyahu said Israel would also examine how the suspect was cleared to operate flights into the country.

“We have constraints that say that you can’t have pilots from countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel. Obviously he was able to go through that,” Netanyahu told Fox News.

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