UAE Prosecutor Says Flydubai Co-Pilot Drifted Toward Extremism While in Australia

The co-pilot who allegedly attempted to hijack a Flydubai flight on Sept. 30 drifted toward extremism and terrorism while pursuing his studies in Australia, a United Arab Emirates attorney general said on Oct. 9.

Flight FZ1073 was en route from Dubai to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, when the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain with an emergency axe. The aircraft dropped about 14,000 feet in 30 seconds before passengers and crew members intervened. Two reserve pilots who were on board later took control and landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia.

Emirati Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the 29-year-old suspect was inspired by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and intended to crash the aircraft into Ben Gurion Airport in a suicide attack, with the aim of “causing the greatest possible loss of life,” according to a statement carried by the state news agency WAM.

The plane was carrying 174 passengers at the time of the incident. UAE officials have not publicly identified the co-pilot. However, senior Israeli security officials identified him to Epoch Magazine Israel as Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national.

Al Shamsi said the investigation found that the suspect’s radicalization began in 2017 when he was a student at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia.

During that period, he was exposed to extremist literature and began following online content supporting terrorist organizations and suicide attacks, the attorney general said.

The suspect told investigators that he regularly attended a mosque affiliated with RMIT, where he became acquainted with people linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Shamsi said the suspect also revealed during the investigation that he had prepared himself “psychologically and physically to carry out the plot by intensifying his exposure to material promoting terrorism and training in boxing under a private coach.”

Investigations also found that the suspect had flown two flights to Tel Aviv to familiarize himself with the flight route and the airport in preparation for the alleged terrorist plot.

Investigators also reviewed Flydubai’s hiring procedures and found that the suspect had met the required professional and security requirements.

Al Shamsi said that none of the procedures indicated that the suspect held any extremist views or intention to carry out a terrorist plot.

Al Shamsi also said the suspect admitted that he had acted alone in the attack and provided “a detailed confession outlining his motives and the stages of planning and execution” in the presence of his lawyer. The investigation into the incident remained ongoing, he said.

The badly injured captain, Smit Machchhar, and the suspect were transferred from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi on Oct. 1 after receiving medical clearance, accompanied by an Emirati security team, according to the Saudi Interior Ministry.

Machchhar told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a video call on Oct. 2 that he used his remaining strength to unlock the cockpit door so others could intervene.

“When I was lying on the floor, I could feel that the aircraft was plunging, and I said to myself while I was getting beaten, ‘This is the last push Smit, do it, the door is right there.’ Somehow, I opened the door, and everyone came in,” Machchhar said. “I was trying to save myself, but I also knew that I can’t let anyone die.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News on Oct. 1 that the co-pilot shouted “Kill me” after he was subdued by the passengers and crew members, adding that it was “clear he was suicidal.”

Chris Summers and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.