A Flydubai co-pilot attempted to seize control of a passenger jet flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv last week, with plans to launch a suicide attack on the Ben Gurion Airport passenger terminal, according to prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates.

Incident Overview

Hammam al-Hammami attacked the aircraft's Indian pilot with an emergency axe but was unsuccessful in preventing the pilot from opening the cockpit's security door. This allowed passengers to overpower him. The plane, carrying about 180 passengers, was safely landed in Saudi Arabia by an off-duty relief pilot.

Prosecutor's Statement

On Friday, Dr. Hamad Saif al-Shamsi, the UAE's attorney-general, stated that al-Hammami had confessed to attempting to execute a “premeditated terrorist plot” aimed at causing significant loss of life at the Israeli airport. Al-Hammami, 29, had been radicalized while studying in Australia, where he was influenced by extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorism.

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“He subsequently developed ideas advocating violence and terrorism,” al-Shamsi noted. “He drew inspiration from the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the idea of carrying out a similar operation using an aircraft became firmly established in his thinking.”