Flydubai Co-Pilot Planned Suicide Attack On Tel Aviv Flight: UAE Authorities

The Omani flydubai co-pilot who had a brawl with his pilot inside the cockpit had intended ‌to seize the Dubai-Tel Aviv plane and crash it into a terminal at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, the UAE attorney general said on Friday.

Reuters reported that Attorney General Hamad Saif al Shamsi's statement did not suggest flydubai was involved in any wrongdoing. Instead, it offered prosecutors' most detailed account to date of what they believe took place.

The state news agency WAM reported that the prosecution has found the suspect had used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to "familiarise himself with the flight route and the airport".

This is the first public confirmation of the co-pilot's 9/11 inspiration. The statement from the office of the attorney said the co-pilot “drew inspiration” from the attacks that were made on the United States on September 11.

Omani authorities checked the alleged radical Islamist views linked to the co-pilot after people familiar with the matter identified him as Hamam al-Hammami, The New York Times reported.

The attorney general did not identify the co-pilot. People familiar with the matter said al-Hammami had started a "drift towards extremism and terrorism" nearly 10 years ago, while he studied in Melbourne, Australia.

In the report, Shamsi said Hammami prepared himself psychologically and physically to carry out the attack; he did so by “intensifying his monitoring of materials that incite terrorism, and by training in boxing under the supervision of a private trainer.”

The incident happened on September 30. While the plane was flying over Saudi Arabia, the co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain with a crash axe, an emergency tool normally stored in the cockpit.

The assault sent the airliner plunging 16,000 feet in just 30 seconds. Fortunately, others on board managed to overpower the attacker, allowing two off-duty pilots who were flying in the same plane to step in and land the plane safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia. The suspect was later extradited to the UAE, where flydubai is based.