Alleged Flydubai hijacker planned ‘suicide attack’ on Tel Aviv’s airport, early investigation finds
The suspect confessed to acting alone and investigators said he used two earlier flights to scout the route and airport before the attack.
- On Friday, the United Arab Emirates Attorney General confirmed that an Omani Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash his aircraft into Ben Gurion Airport, targeting the passenger terminal to cause "the greatest possible number of casualties."
- Hamam al-Hammami drew inspiration from the September 11, 2001, attacks, leading him to pursue an aviation career; investigators found his Islamist radicalization began while studying in Australia in 2017.
- The suspect used two previous flights to familiarize himself with the route before attacking the captain with an axe during his third trip to Israel, according to investigators.
- Captain Smit Machchhar and passengers subdued al-Hammami after he assaulted the captain inside the cockpit, allowing the crew to divert the aircraft and land safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.
- Despite al-Hammami's confession that he acted alone, UAE authorities are continuing to investigate potential accomplices, with the attorney general emphasizing the probe remains active regarding the suspect's broader connections.
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The Omani co-pilot who attacked the FlyDubai flight commander on 30 September planned to launch the plane against Tel Aviv International Airport, said US Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi on Friday. According to the findings of the investigation, released by the state media, he was inspired by the attacks of 11 September and sought to cause as many deaths as possible.
The suspect had used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to "familiarize himself with the flight route and the airport," says the public prosecutor.
The co-pilot of the flydubai flight, which attacked the pilot at the end of September, planned a suicide attack on Tel Aviv airport.
The second pilot of the Flydubai flight, from Dubai to Tel Aviv on 30 September, planned to carry out a terrorist attack at the Israeli airport of Ben Gurion, was told by UAE Prosecutor General Hamid Seif Al-Shamsi.
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