The co-pilot who attempted to hijack an Israel-bound flight planned to crash it into a terminal at Israel‘s Ben Gurion Airport in a 9/11-inspired attack, according to the UAE attorney general.
The attacker, named as Hamam Al Hammami, 29, severely wounded captain Smit Machchhar using the onboard crash axe as he tried to take control of the Flydubai plane on its way to Tel Aviv last week.
Passengers and crew grappled with the Omani national to regain control of the aircraft, which plummeted 14,000ft in just 29 seconds.
The plan was inspired by the 9/11 attacks, UAE attorney general Hamad Saif Al Shamsi has said, with investigations revealing the suspect had used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to ‘familiarise himself with the flight route and the airport’.
The hijacker attempted to take control of the plane ‘with the intention of causing the greatest possible number of human casualties,’ the UAE’s top prosecutor said in a statement carried by the state news agency WAM.
Al Hammami ‘admitted that he had acted alone, without the involvement of others,’ the statement said, adding that he ‘provided a detailed confession outlining his motives and the stages of planning and execution’ in the presence of his lawyer.
It also suggested he was radicalised at a mosque in Australia while attending the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2017.
Investigators examined Flydubai’s recruiting procedures and found the suspect had met all professional and security requirements, including holding a pilot’s licence and providing a certificate of good conduct.
Hamam al-Hammami, the suspected hijacker of the Flydubai aircraft, is an Omani national
The co-pilot (pictured) used the cockpit’s crash axe in his attempt to take control of the Flydubai plane
‘However, none of the procedures revealed any indications of his extremist views or his intention to carry out a terrorist plot,’ Al Shamsi added.
Al Shamsi said the suspect had told investigators he had prepared psychologically and physically for the attack by viewing material promoting terrorism and taking boxing lessons.
The co-pilot had previously worked with Oman’s national airline as a trainee in 2024 but was removed from flying because of concerns that he may have been influenced by radical groups. He was then moved to an administrative job at Oman Air.
Al Hammami was later hired by UAE-based airline Flydubai in January 2026, but it was not immediately clear to what extent the co-pilot was vetted.
It has been confirmed by a Gulf diplomat that he had undergone standard security checks before being hired, but it appears the checks focused on whether he had been convicted of criminal charges and didn’t go deeper into examining his background for potential signs of radicalisation.
The UAE’s investigation found there were signs of the suspect drifting towards ‘extremism and terrorism’ as early as 2017, while he was studying in Australia.
Royal Air Maroc confirmed that Al Hammami had undergone three-months training with the airline in 2025, but his application to work there afterwards was rejected.
Al Hammami, who studied at a British university, was born in the UAE, and his mother is Syrian. He obtained Omani nationality from his father.
While enrolled at Buckinghamshire New University (BNU) – where he studied for a three-year, distance-learning degree in aviation before graduating in 2023 – Al Hammami seemingly encouraged violence towards women in a series of social media posts, praising giving them a ‘pre-emptive slap’.
The university said that Al Hammami did not take any pilot training at the school. It is understood he also studied engineering at a university in Australia.
Al Hammami was born in the UAE and his mother is Syrian. He obtained Omani nationality from his father.
US and Israeli intelligence also believe the co-pilot planned to crash the plane into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport or a tower block in the city.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had been prepared to shoot the plane down to avoid an ‘Israeli 9/11’, sources told CBS News.
Passengers and crew, including the captain Mr Machchhar, have been hailed for their bravery in preventing what is believed to be an attempted suicide mission. One of whom is said to have been an off-duty British pilot.
Mr Machchhar was praised for saving the lives of those 174 passengers on board, which included four Americans. While cruising mid-air, the hero was able to fight off his co-pilot in the cockpit and his attempts to sabotage the plane’s systems.
Distressing footage showed Mr Machchhar lying on the ground covered in blood as passengers tended to his injuries, while another pilot is seen seemingly lying nearby unconscious. Passengers can be heard telling one of the men: ‘You saved the plane.’
Footage filmed by passengers shows wounded captain Smit Machchhar lying on the floor as others tend to him
According to reports by CNN, two posts were made to a LinkedIn page matching Al Hammami’s identity, just nine hours after the attack.
The first post reportedly featured a series of clips filmed in the cockpits of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft. One clip, geolocated to Dubai International Airport, zoomed in on the plane that belongs to the Israeli airline El Al.
The cockpit screen showed the flight number – OMA624 – and the date, October 11, 2023, which matches the time when Al Hammami worked at Oman Air. The flight number corresponds to a flight that usually travels from Dubai to Muscat.
Other clips showed more planes from El Al, and one from another Israeli airline, Arkia.
It ends with a photo of Ayman al-Zawahiri, who led Al Qaeda after Osama Bin Laden’s death, and a photo of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who killed nine people in a 2009 suicide bombing.
The second post on the profile shows an AI-generated image of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem – Islam’s three holiest sites – linked by a glowing trail. In the background, a poem is being recited, speaking of rejecting humiliation, not fearing death and defending one’s dignity.
On the day of the attack, BNU said its licence to sponsor international students had been suspended by the Home Office over fears regarding its compliance with sponsorship duties.
It said ‘many of the issues raised by the Home Office relate to historic international student recruitment activity’.
The Home Office said the suspension had been unrelated to Al Hammami or the Flydubai attack.
The LinkedIn account linked to Al Hammami, which has now been deleted, showed he worked at Oman Air for seven years, leaving in February 2025, and joined Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 before departing in January 2026. It made no mention of Flydubai.
