Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash aircraft into Ben Gurion airport, UAE says

The UAE attorney general has said the alleged hijacker of a flydubai plane planned to crash into Israel's Ben Gurion airport.

According to the state news agency, the suspect had used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to survey the route and the airport.

The attorney general also said the alleged plot was inspired by the 9/11 attacks.

According to UAE prosecutors, the suspect - identified as Omani co-pilot Hamam al Hammami - attacked captain Smit Machchhar with an axe inside the cockpit of the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight FZ1073 on 30 September.

Passengers on board the plane managed to subdue the alleged attacker and relief pilots safely landed in Saudi Arabia.

The suspect worked for several airlines in different countries, including Oman ​Air and Royal Air Maroc, before ​joining flydubai in January 2026, the attorney general said.

Sources earlier told the Associated Press (AP) that al Hammami - who has a Syrian mother and was born in the UAE - was banned from flying by Oman over fears he had adopted extremist views.

The plane was carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, most of them Israeli - and plunged 16,000 feet ​in 30 seconds during the incident.

Mr Machchhar was hailed a hero after he managed to open the cockpit door, despite being wounded.

A reserve flydubai pilot took control of the aircraft and landed at a regional airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was later transferred to the ​UAE on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Israeli prime minister Benjamin ⁠Netanyahu said pilots who are citizens of countries that Israel does not have diplomatic relations with, including Oman, are not permitted to operate flights to the country.

It is not clear how al Hammami was assigned to the Tel Aviv flight.

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He also claimed that the co-pilot had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination" and said it appeared "very likely that he was going to down the plane".

New Zealand Assistant Police ⁠Commissioner Michael Johnson said on Monday that the co-pilot had spent time in the country, with police looking into the period.

An Australian counterterrorism unit is also investigating his links to Australia, where he completed a distance-learning course in aviation management at Buckinghamshire New University.

(c) Sky News 2026: Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash aircraft into Ben Gurion airport, UAE says