Emirati investigators said on Friday that the co-pilot who attacked the captain of a FlyDubai flight last week had developed extremist Islamist views over several years and had intended to carry out a Sept. 11-inspired suicide crash into Israel’s biggest airport.
The details, disclosed by the Emirati attorney general, offered the most comprehensive official account so far of the co-pilot’s motives and preparation. The report also deepened questions about how signs of his radicalization were missed before he was allowed to fly such a sensitive route.
More than 170 passengers, mostly Israelis, were on FlyDubai Flight 1073 last week when the co-pilot began attacking the pilot with the plane’s crash ax and then tried to crash the airliner. The pilot, Capt. Smit Machchhar, managed to unlock the cockpit door, and passengers were able to subdue the assailant, narrowly averting a catastrophe.
Backup pilots were on board and ultimately stabilized the plane, bringing it to an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
The Emirati attorney general, Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, said the co-pilot, a 29-year-old Omani national, had planned to crash the plane into the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv “with the aim of causing the greatest possible loss of life.”
The Emirati statement did not identify the co-pilot, but people familiar with the investigation have said that his name is Hamam al-Hammami, and that his embrace of radical Islamist views prompted the Omani authorities to scrutinize him earlier.
The Emirati investigation found that the co-pilot had begun a “drift towards extremism and terrorism” almost a decade ago, while he was a student in Melbourne, Australia. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology said in a statement that the co-pilot was enrolled at the university between 2015 and 2017 but did not complete his engineering degree.
While in Australia, Mr. al-Hammami developed a fascination with extremist literature and online content “glorifying terrorist organizations and suicide operations” the Emirati statement said. He also “received support” from groups related to the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamist movement, according to the statement, without elaborating further.
Taking inspiration from the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and takfir ideology — a view that effectively allows one Muslim to declare another an apostate — the co-pilot became increasingly interested in a similar attack, the Emirati statement said.
He confessed to the authorities that following through on that vision was “linked to his decision to pursue a career in aviation,” according to investigators. Before coming to FlyDubai in January 2026, he was employed by Oman Air for four years and spent a brief stint at Royal Maroc Air, a Moroccan airline, the investigation found.
The co-pilot told the authorities that he acted alone, investigators said, though they added that were still looking into that question. To prepare for the operation, he had used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to familiarize himself with the route, consumed more “material promoting terrorism” and trained in boxing, the Emirati statement said.
But the disclosure left open questions about how Mr. al-Hammami was cleared to fly such a sensitive route. It is unclear whether Omani investigators had shared their concerns with security officials in Israel, the United Arab Emirates — where the flight originated — or with the airline.
Mr. Al Shamsi said the co-pilot “had met the professional and security requirements for employment” at FlyDubai, including completing required checks and providing a certificate of “good conduct.” He added that none of the steps revealed “any indications of his extremist views or his intention to carry out a terrorist plot.”
The plane’s passengers were mostly Israelis, some of whom said the crisis evoked the feelings of dread they had last felt on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed.
After the failed attack on the plane, two posts appeared on a LinkedIn profile bearing Mr. al-Hammami’s name. One depicted a photo of Ayman al-Zawahri, who led Al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden’s death and was killed by the United States in 2022. It was not clear who made the posts or whether they had been scheduled in advance to be published.
Victoria Kim contributed reporting.
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