UAE says flydubai co-pilot planned 9/11-style crash into Ben Gurion Airport

The attorney general of the United Arab Emirates has said that the co-pilot of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv intended to crash the aircraft into Ben Gurion Airport in a suicide attack modelled on the 9/11 attacks in the United States. The Times of Israel, citing the UAE state news agency, reported that the suspect, an Omani national named as Hamam al-Hammami, planned to take over the September 30 flight and fly it into a terminal, and that he was stopped by a fellow pilot and several passengers.

The statement, issued on Friday, also says the suspect showed the first signs of extremism in 2017, while he was studying in Australia. N12 quoted the attorney general as saying this influence developed into the adoption of ideas inciting violence and terror, and into drawing inspiration from the 9/11 attacks. Ynet reported that, according to the investigation, he attended a mosque in Melbourne, chose a career in aviation because he was inspired by the attack on the Twin Towers, and took boxing training.

What the attorney general says happened on board

According to the account carried by N12, the co-pilot surprised the captain inside the cockpit and struck him with the emergency axe. The captain fought back and tried to summon help. A second captain, who was travelling on the plane to fly the return leg, happened to be close to the cockpit. The attorney general said this pilot grew suspicious when he saw the cockpit door opening and closing repeatedly in an unusual way, approached, and tried to enter using the secret access code. When he got in, he saw the attack under way.

With help from a member of the cabin crew and several passengers, the group rescued the injured captain and overpowered the suspect, the attorney general said. The return-flight captain and his own co-pilot then took control of the aircraft, changed course and landed safely at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. A photo caption published by The Jerusalem Post identifies the service as flydubai flight 1073 and shows damage to its tail section; the paper reported that the suspect aimed to cause as many casualties as possible.

Reconnaissance flights and career history

The attorney general said the suspect had used two earlier trips to Tel Aviv to get to know the route and the airport. Haaretz, carrying a Reuters report, said UAE public prosecutors reached their conclusions through an investigation opened on October 1.

Before he joined flydubai in January 2026, the statement says, he had worked as a pilot for a number of carriers in several countries, among them Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc, according to The Times of Israel. The attorney general said he confessed to acting alone, but that investigators are still examining whether anyone else was involved.

Context for readers outside Israel

Ben Gurion Airport, near the city of Lod in central Israel, is the country's main international airport. In Hebrew it is commonly called Natbag, an abbreviation of its official name, which is the term used in the Hebrew-language reports. flydubai is an airline based in Dubai, one of the emirates that make up the UAE. Tabuk, where the plane landed, is in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

The Times of Israel noted that much of the detail had already appeared in Israeli media before Friday. What is new is that the account now comes officially from the UAE authorities.

Where the reports differ

The outlets use slightly different language for the takeover. Haaretz describes the co-pilot as having seized the flight, while The Times of Israel says he had planned to seize it and was thwarted. The N12 account of the attorney general's statement describes a struggle in the cockpit before other crew members and passengers intervened. Only The Times of Israel specifies that the target was a terminal building rather than the airport in general.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports describes the condition of the injured captain beyond saying he was wounded, or says whether any passengers or crew were hurt in subduing the suspect. They do not say where the suspect is now held, what charges he faces, or in which country he will be tried. The material names no mosque in Melbourne and includes no response from Australian, Omani, Saudi or Israeli authorities. The number of people on board is not given, and the attorney general has not said what, if anything, investigators have found about possible accomplices.