Flydubai copilot would have planned to crash into Israel airport

Aauthorities believe that the copilot who tried to hijack a Flydubai plane was planning to crash into the Ben Gurion Airport of Tel Aviv or a residential building in central Israel.

According to various Israeli and American media, who cite sources close to the investigation, Hamam Al-Hammami, an Omanite citizen, will have planned the attack alone. 

The unsub, notice, was being questioned by the authorities over the weekend.

After attacking the pilot, Al-Hammami planned to crash into Israeli airport or a residential building in Tel Aviv. A similar attack on 11 September in the United States. 

During the interrogation, the man also revealed that he intended to hijack a plane from a previous flight. However, you'll have changed your mind because you had someone you knew on board. 

It should be noted that an investigation is taking place to ascertain the safety deficiencies, as well as the recruitment of the co-pilot by the Flydubai airline. 

According to the BBC, Oman's authorities said that Hamam Al-Hammami had been banned from flying by Oman Air, having been transferred to an administrative post allegedly due to concerns about his extremist vision. 

He was subsequently hired by Flydubai, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, after passing the usual security check. However, they will not have examined the suspect's history of possible signs of radicalization. 

The press also reports that the attack was planned several months ago and that the suspect traveled several times to Israel for information. 

It should also be recalled that the Australian authorities confirmed on Monday that they are investigating alleged links to the country of the co-pilot of a Flydubai flight that had attacked the pilot during a trip to Israel.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said that the Victoria Joint Counterterrorism Team, integrated by AFP, Victoria Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, is investigating man's alleged links to Australia.

This was after the local press revealed that Flydubai's co-pilot, Hamam al Hammami, born in Oman, obtained a student visa in 2014 and studied in Australia between 2015 and 2017.

The incident happened on Wednesday, when the two pilots of a flight that made the route between Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and Tel Aviv (Israel) confronted in the cabin, which caused a crash of the plane of 5,000 meters in less than 30 seconds, generating panic on board and leading to emergency alerts.

A further investigation by the UAE prosecutor concluded that the copilot attempted to attack the pilot and divert the plane, initiating “the execution of a terrorist attack”.

The copilot had already been prevented from flying on Oman for suspicion of extremist behaviour.

The case is also being investigated by the authorities of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a review of security measures on international flights to Israel following the attack.

“Netanyahu instructed the Director of the National Security Council, Shmuel Ben Ezra, to appoint a person responsible for conducting a comprehensive review of all aspects related to foreign civil aviation security to Israel,” said the Prime Minister’s office in a statement.

According to Army Radio (“Galei Tzahal” in Hebrew), the Israeli Ministry of Transport received warnings from several Israeli agencies indicating deficiencies in the supervision of foreign pilots flying to the country.

Quoting confidential documents, the radio said that in 2025 and 2024 the Ministry was alerted to the lack of compliance with aviation safety responsibilities.

Israeli security guidelines forbid pilots from countries with which Israel does not maintain diplomatic relations, such as Oman, from flying to Israel.