Dubai (AFP) - The UAE Attorney General announced on Saturday that investigations into the attack on a Flydubai plane revealed that the assistant captain planned to carry out a “terrorist operation” using an “emergency axe” to attack the pilot during the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, while his motives are still unknown.

Published on: 10/03/2026 - 10:38 Last updated: 10/03/2026 - 22:08

The UAE Public Prosecution did not reveal, according to investigations reported by the Emirates News Agency (WAM) on Saturday, the nationality of the co-pilot, but a Saudi source confirmed to Agence France-Presse that he is Omani.

International media also reported that he was banned from flying in the Sultanate of Oman.

The Emirati report came after the first plane carrying Israelis returning to their country from the Emirates landed in Tel Aviv early Saturday, a plane belonging to the Israeli low-cost airline Arkia, after Fly Dubai temporarily suspended its flights to the Hebrew state.

The Emirati “WAM” agency quoted Public Prosecutor Hamad Saif Al Shamsi as saying that “investigations into the Flydubai flight FZ1073 incident revealed that the plane’s co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist operation,” and that “he began implementing his plan during the flight, as he assaulted the plane’s pilot inside the cockpit using the emergency axe and tried to control the plane’s controls.”

He added, "Investigations are still ongoing to uncover all the circumstances of the incident, its motives, and the links associated with it."

While Abu Dhabi did not reveal the identity of the attacker, several press reports stated that he was Omani, identifying him as Humam Al-Hammami, born to an Omani father and a Syrian mother.

A spokesman for Buckinghamshire New England University said in a statement that Al-Hammami "had previously completed a training course in aviation management using the distance learning system, but he did not receive any training in piloting aircraft at the university."

Al-Arabiya, CNN, ABC, and the Wall Street Journal reported that the Omani authorities prevented Al-Hamami from flying planes for security reasons, believing that he was influenced by the ideology of extremist Islamic groups during a visit he made to Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said on Thursday that the co-pilot "had undergone a process of extremist Islamic ideological indoctrination."

The attack occurred on Wednesday on a Flydubai plane, which was carrying 172 passengers, including 166 Israelis, in addition to crew members, on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The co-pilot stabbed the Indian captain, who, despite his injury, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew members to control the attacker. The plane made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport, Saudi Arabia.

The Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Indian pilot Smit Machar, returned to the hospital on Saturday, according to what was published on his official account on the X platform.

He accompanied this with pictures in which he appeared kissing the pilot’s head, which was wrapped in a bandage. Machar appeared smiling as he shook hands with the Crown Prince of Dubai with his right hand, while his left appeared completely wrapped in a bandage.

Sheikh Hamdan wrote that what the pilot did “embodied the highest levels of courage, responsibility, and concern for people’s lives,” adding, “He has from us... all our appreciation and praise.”

"Extremist ideas"

The pilot said on Friday, in his first public statements since the incident, that he acted to protect the plane's passengers, in a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Saturday, the Israeli Prime Minister invited the pilot to visit Israel as a “guest of honor.”

Netanyahu said that he would like Machar and Modi, one of Israel's main international partners, to light a torch at a ceremony marking Israel's National Day next May, noting that this role is usually reserved for Israeli citizens.

Passengers described the horrific moments after the plane's altitude suddenly decreased during the flight, descending 17,000 feet within a minute, according to data from the "Flight Radar 24" website, which tracks air traffic.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the Omani authorities prevented the co-pilot from flying due to fears that he might adopt extremist ideological ideas, citing people familiar with the matter.

CNN reported, based on two informed sources, that the co-pilot was removed last year from working for the national company, Oman Air, due to concerns about him adopting extremist ideas.

Al-Arabiya channel quoted an informed source as saying that the Omani authorities concluded that the co-pilot was adopting extremist ideas. She added that he spent a period in Syria, which raised fears that he might have been influenced by the ideology of extremist groups there.

ABC News, citing senior intelligence and law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation, reported that extremist materials were found in the suspect's possession when he was a trainee.

© 2026 AFP

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