Newsinc24 Team The United Arab Emirates said on Friday that the Omani first officer of flydubai’s Flight 1073 had planned to seize the flight on September 30 and crash it into a terminal at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, in a suicide attack inspired by the September 11, 2001, attacks on America, before he was thwarted by his fellow pilot and several passengers. The statement covered by the UAE’s state news agency confirmed multiple reports on the matter from the start of the week.
Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi’s statement did not appear to implicate flydubai in any wrongdoing, and contained the most detailed account yet from prosecutors about what they believe to have happened.Al-Shamsi said the suspect used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to “familiarize himself with the flight route and the airport” before attempting to carry out his attack.
The suspect, identified as Hamam al-Hammami, confessed to acting alone, the UAE said, but the attorney general said an investigation was still ongoing into possible accomplices. Al-Shamsi said the suspect told investigators he had prepared psychologically and physically for the attack by viewing material promoting terrorism and taking boxing lessons. The attorney general said the suspect worked for several airlines in different countries in the past, including Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc, before joining flydubai in January 2026.
Hebrew media reports have said Hammami was at Ben Gurion Airport several times in recent months after flying in with flydubai. He told investigators that when he came in June, he devoted his entire focus to collecting intelligence and planning his attack, according to Hebrew outlets. He then plotted to attack in July, but ended up canceling his plan at the last moment as he was friends with one of the crew members on that flight. Hammami has been reported to have told investigators: “I looked into which airline flies to Tel Aviv. That’s why I chose flydubai. I planned it even before I was accepted.
