Flydubai co-pilot planned Tel Aviv suicide crash, UAE says

A Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv jet into Tel Aviv's international airport in a suicide attack, the United Arab Emirates' top prosecutor said Friday, after passengers and crew overpowered him and the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

The prosecutor's findings, published by Emirati state media, said the Omani co-pilot drew inspiration from Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and acted “with the aim of causing the greatest possible loss of life.” He is now in custody in the UAE.

The prosecutor did not name the co-pilot, but reports identified him as Hamam al-Hammami. The findings said he had met professional and security requirements for employment, including holding a pilot's licence, providing a certificate of good conduct and completing required checks. The prosecutor said those procedures did not reveal extremist views or an intention to carry out a terrorist plot.

According to the prosecutor, the co-pilot had previously worked for Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc. The prosecutor said he was radicalised while studying in Australia through extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorist organisations and suicide attacks.

The prosecutor said the flight last month was the co-pilot's third trip to Tel Aviv, after two earlier flights used to plan the attack.

During the flight, the co-pilot attacked the plane's Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, with the cockpit's emergency axe. The captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to overpower the attacker. An off-duty pilot travelling on the aircraft then took the controls and landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

Passengers described rushing the cockpit and a fight for control after the plane suddenly plunged by about 5,000 metres. The passengers were overwhelmingly Israeli.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said the co-pilot must have bypassed restrictions preventing people from countries that do not recognise Israel from operating flights to the country. Netanyahu praised the passengers and pilot after the foiled attack and later ordered a review of security for foreign civil aviation to Israel.