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The United Arab Emirates prosecutor general has concluded that the co-pilot on flydubai flight FZ1073 carried out an attempted terrorist act when he attacked the captain with a crash axe and tried to take over the controls, according to the state news agency WAM. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi detailed that Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami assaulted Indian captain Smit Machchhar inside the flight deck during the journey from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The prosecutor added that a specialised team continues to examine all circumstances, motives and any related links through technical, physical and digital evidence reviews.
Multiple media outlets including the Wall Street Journal and Associated Press have reported that al-Hammami, aged 29, was previously barred from flying by Oman Air in 2024 after being flagged for possessing extremist materials and adopting radical views during pilot training. ABC News sources indicated the individual was moved to an administrative role at the Omani carrier before resigning and later joining flydubai. Questions have arisen over the vetting processes that allowed him to operate a flight heading to Israel, with which Oman has no diplomatic relations, according to reports in Newsweek.
The violent confrontation caused the Boeing 737 to plunge more than 14,000 feet in under a minute, triggering an emergency signal, a Reuters dispatch from October 3 stated. Despite serious injuries, captain Machchhar mustered the strength to unlock the cockpit door from the floor, enabling passengers, crew members and off-duty pilots to enter and restrain al-Hammami, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told media outlets. An off-duty flydubai pilot who was travelling as a passenger then assumed control and safely landed the aircraft at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained by local authorities.
UAE adviser Anwar Gargash praised captain Machchhar for his actions in confronting the assault, describing it as a serious terrorist act in comments reported by News18. The Indian government similarly commended the pilot’s immense courage through its embassy in Israel, the BBC noted in its coverage. Netanyahu further suggested the attacker appeared suicidal and had undergone Islamist radical indoctrination, though he provided no supporting evidence in his Fox News interview.
Aviation experts have highlighted that such pilot-on-pilot violence remains exceptionally rare but echoes the 2015 Germanwings crash where a co-pilot deliberately flew an aircraft into the Alps, killing all 150 aboard, an Al Jazeera feature published on October 1 explained. The incident has prompted renewed scrutiny of cockpit door protocols introduced after the 2001 attacks, which were designed primarily to block external hijackers rather than insider threats from within the crew, the Guardian reported. Security consultants cited in Aviation Business News pointed to limitations in the two-person rule when both pilots are in the cockpit and potential gaps in crew screening procedures.
The flydubai operator has suspended its Tel Aviv services temporarily while stating that the circumstances remain under investigation and it cannot comment further, a company spokesperson told Reuters. Saudi officials initially assessed the co-pilot’s actions as a deliberate attempt to crash the plane, according to people familiar with the matter quoted in the Wall Street Journal. The multi-nation probe, led by the UAE, will determine if the event qualifies as the most significant terrorist plot involving a commercial aircraft in recent years, an aviation security firm assessment carried by the publication indicated.
