UAE prosecutors say flydubai co-pilot planned 9/11-inspired suicide attack on Tel Aviv airport

The alleged plot

The UAE attorney general, Hamad Saif al-Shamsi, said on Friday that the co-pilot of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv had planned to seize the aircraft and crash it into the passenger terminal at Israel's Ben Gurion airport in a suicide attack. Prosecutors believe the plan was inspired by the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, according to a statement carried by the state news agency WAM. The suspect told investigators he had used two earlier flights to Tel Aviv to 'familiarise himself with the flight route and the airport'. The statement says he told investigators he acted alone and that the attack was meant to cause 'the greatest possible number of victims'. Prosecutors opened their investigation on 1 October, one day after the 30 September incident.

The cockpit attack

The attack happened on the 30 September flight, which Al Jazeera and Deutsche Welle put at 174 people on board, while the Guardian reported 182. According to the prosecutor's statement, the co-pilot attacked the pilot in the cockpit with an emergency axe, and the pilot resisted and tried to call for help. An off-duty pilot who was due to fly the return leg noticed the cockpit door opening and closing repeatedly, entered using the security code, and with help from a flight attendant and several passengers subdued the attacker. Reuters reported that the jet plunged 16,000 feet in 30 seconds, while Deutsche Welle described a drop from 9,410 to 5,105 metres in 29 seconds. The plane made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the Indian-national captain was hospitalised with injuries. Most passengers were Israelis, and Deutsche Welle reported that 27 children were on board.

Background and vetting

The Guardian names the suspect as Hammam al-Hammami, a 29-year-old Omani national, while Al Jazeera reports that UAE officials have not identified him publicly. Before joining flydubai in January 2026, he worked for several airlines in different countries, including Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc. Investigators found that he held a pilot's licence and a certificate of good conduct, and that his hiring file showed no sign of extremism.

However, none of the procedures revealed any indications of his extremist views or his intention to carry out a terrorist plot.

The statement says his drift towards extremism began in 2017, while he was studying at RMIT University in Melbourne for about two years. RMIT confirmed that he studied at its Melbourne campus but did not successfully complete an engineering qualification. Prosecutors say he read extremist literature and trained in boxing under a private coach to prepare himself for the attack. Australian security agencies opened an investigation after it emerged that he had spent about two years in the country as a student until 2017.

What comes next

Al Jazeera reports that the statement did not appear to implicate flydubai in any wrongdoing. ANSA reports that investigators are still checking the suspect's claim that he acted alone. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the passengers and the captain and ordered a 'comprehensive review' of security procedures for all foreign civil aviation flights to Israel, according to RFI. The statement says the suspect gave a detailed confession outlining his motives and the stages of planning and execution.

The idea of carrying out a similar operation using an aircraft became firmly established in his thinking.

The investigation is ongoing, and prosecutors have not yet released further details on the planning stages beyond the statement.