UAE had shared FlyDubai flight details with Israel, including info on pilots, officials say
Investigators say the co-pilot researched Tel Aviv routes before the flight and planned to crash the jet, which carried 172 people, officials said.
- On Sunday, officials confirmed the United Arab Emirates shared the passenger list for FlyDubai flight FZ1073 with Israel before departure, including crew nationalities as part of standard procedure.
- Hamam al-Hammami, the suspected pilot, had been previously barred from flying by Omani authorities due to radical ideological views, yet the UAE-based carrier FlyDubai hired him despite these concerns.
- During the Wednesday flight with 182 people on board, the co-pilot attacked the captain with a crash ax in what the United Arab Emirates called a "terrorist attack," nearly crashing the aircraft before passengers intervened.
- The Shin Bet and Transportation Ministry traded accusations over vetting responsibilities, while sources told ABC News on Saturday that Hammami is "cooperating" with the investigation following his detention in Saudi Arabia.
- Philip Baum, an aviation security expert at Coventry University, noted that cross-border background checks face significant limitations, leaving questions about how FlyDubai failed to identify the Omani pilot as a security risk.
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Flydubai pilot planned 9/11-style attack, source tells NBC News
TEL AVIV — The pilot who tried to bring down an Israel-bound flight had been planning a 9/11-style attack by crashing into the country’s main airport in Tel Aviv, a Middle Eastern official has told NBC News.
The Flydubai co-pilot who attacked his colleague with an axe last week was presumably planning to crash the plane at Tel Aviv airport. He had reportedly intended to carry out the attack as early as July, but postponed his plan because a friend of his was flying as a crew member.
Ben Gurion Airport is said to have been the target of the alleged attacker. Previously, according to the U.S. media, the co-pilot had been noticed for security concerns – apparently he was even banned from flying in Oman.
It has been suggested that pilot Hamam Al-Hammami (29), who recently attempted to crash a Flydubai passenger plane, may have taken a job at the airline with the intention of piloting a flight bound for Israel. With the general election just three weeks away in Israel, the issue of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government's responsibility for "security failures" is emerging. (Local time)
According to the U.S. media, the copilot planned to bring the plane to the large Israeli airport.
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