Photo via ABC News (AU)

Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash plane into airport, Israeli media reports

Read the original at ABC News (AU) ↗
Cite

Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash plane into airport, Israeli media reports. (2026, October 5). ABC News (AU). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-05/flydubai-pilot-planned-to-crash-plane-into-ben-gurion-airport/107228592

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

ABC News (AU) · collected 2026-10-05

Quick Summary

An Omani national named Hamam al-Hammami, who was a flydubai co-pilot, allegedly attacked his captain mid-flight over Jordan on Wednesday and planned to crash the plane carrying 174 passengers into Ben Gurion airport in Israel. Israeli media reports indicate that if reaching Ben Gurion wasn't possible, he intended to target a US military base in Jordan instead. Al-Hammami was detained after other crew members intervened and forced him from the cockpit; a reserve pilot landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia before transferring al-Hammami to the UAE for interrogation. Australian authorities are investigating potential links between al-Hammami and Australia, including his student visa history there between 2015 and 2017.
Written by AI on 2026-10-05, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 30, 2026, a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv signaled an emergency and was diverted to land at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. The incident initially raised concerns about a possible hijacking, prompting Israel to scramble warplanes. However, Israeli officials later reported that the emergency signals were due to a physical altercation between the plane's two pilots rather than a hijacking attempt.

The flight, identified as Flydubai Flight FZ1073, transmitted multiple emergency alerts after takeoff and over Jordanian airspace before landing safely in Saudi Arabia. Passengers on board managed to overpower the attacker, who was later identified by UAE officials as Omani co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami. Al-Hammami allegedly attempted to crash the plane into Tel Aviv's airport but was stopped by passengers.

UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi stated that signs of al-Hammami’s radicalization first emerged in 2017 while he was studying engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He reportedly became influenced by extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorist organizations during this period.

Written for “Flydubai Hijacker's Radicalization Path” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 345 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Flydubai Hijacker's Radicalization Path
Crime & Law · 346 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 33% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Hindu
Hedges 4 of 7 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Hindu
Hedges 8 of 38 claims Outlet record 60/100
The Straits Times
Hedges 2 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 60/100
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 60/100
Fox News
Hedges 3 of 11 claims Outlet record 69/100
Washington Examiner
Hedges 2 of 17 claims Outlet record 70/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
33%
8 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
68/100
ABC News (AU)'s corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
346
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (AU) · 4730 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 10 correction(s)

Who wrote this

No reporter is named on this article.

Topics

AFP Israel Israeli flydubai the United Arab Emirates

Subjects

Israel GPE · 8× Israeli NORP · 6× AFP ORG · 4× Al-Hammami PERSON · 2× Australian NORP · 2× Israelis NORP · 2× Tel Aviv GPE · 2× The Times of Israel ORG · 2× flydubai ORG · 2× the United Arab Emirates GPE · 2×

Narrative

The commercial flight, which was bound for Tel Aviv from Dubai on Wednesday, was labelled a terrorist attack by the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general over the weekend. Mr Al-Hammami's plan to crash the plane was thwarted by the actions of Israeli passengers, as well as the struggle put up by Indian captain Smit Machchhar. The jet plunged nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 metres) in less than 30 seconds in the incident.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-05
🔮 If he could not reach Israel, his plan was to crash into the US military base in Jordan, Channel 12 reported.

Claims (24 extracted, 8 hedged)

In short: A pilot who allegedly stabbed a colleague in a flight over the Middle East has reportedly revealed his plans to investigators. uncertain
who → stab → investigators
The flydubai pilot allegedly attempted to crash a commercial plane carrying 174 passengers on Wednesday. What's next? uncertain
What → attempt → Wednesday
The pilot is being interrogated in the United Arab Emirates, Israeli news outlets report. asserted
outlets → interrogate → Emirates
A flydubai pilot who allegedly attacked a colleague in the cockpit on a flight to Israel planned to crash into the Ben Gurion airport, Israeli media outlets have reported. uncertain
outlets → attack → airport
Israeli news site Ynet, citing officials, reported that the pilot intended to continue flying normally before crashing into the main airport in Israel. asserted
pilot → cite → Israel
This is why the pilot allegedly waited until the plane was in Jordanian airspace to stab his captain, according to reports cited in The Times of Israel. uncertain
plane → wait → Israel
If he could not reach Israel, his plan was to crash into the US military base in Jordan, Channel 12 reported. uncertain
Channel → reach → Jordan
Pilot planned attack for months, Israeli media reports Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, who attempted to hijack the plane carrying 174 passengers, is being interrogated in the United Arab Emirates, the Times of Israel reported. asserted
Times → plan → Israel
He was previously suspended from flying by Oman Air after being identified as a security risk, according to US reports. uncertain
He → suspend → reports
Investigators told the outlet the pilot had planned to carry out the attack in July but did not follow through after forming a personal relationship with one of the crew members. asserted
pilot → tell → members
The commercial flight, which was bound for Tel Aviv from Dubai on Wednesday, was labelled a terrorist attack by the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general over the weekend. Mr Al-Hammami's plan to crash the plane was thwarted by the actions of Israeli passengers, as well as the struggle put up by Indian captain Smit Machchhar. The jet plunged nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 metres) in less than 30 seconds in the incident. asserted
jet → bind → incident
A reserve flydubai pilot travelling on the flight took control of the aircraft and landed it at Tabuk airport in north-western Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained by Saudi authorities and later transferred to the UAE on Thursday. asserted
pilot → travel → Thursday
AFP confirms investigation of flydubai co-pilot's Australian links A counterterrorism team is investigating Australian links to Mr Al-Hammami. asserted
team → confirm → Hammami
The investigation is being conducted by the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, comprising the AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO, an AFP spokesperson said. asserted
spokesperson → conduct → AFP
An AFP spokesperson said an update would be provided "at an appropriate time". asserted
update → say → time
Sources close to the incident have confirmed the pilot was issued a student visa in 2014 and studied in Australia between 2015 and 2017, whereafter he left the country. asserted
he → confirm → country
His visa was cancelled in 2019. asserted
visa → cancel → 2019
The ABC understands his visa was not cancelled on character grounds, but due to his lack of enrolment in a course, rendering him ineligible for a student visa. asserted
him → understand → visa
The ABC understands the Joint Counter Terrorism Team investigation will examine whether the man was radicalised while in Australia. asserted
man → understand → Australia
Netanyahu orders review into aviation Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination and was clearly suicidal, although he has not said when or where that indoctrination allegedly occurred. There are questions over major security lapses and Israel's vetting of foreign airline crews after the pilot was barred from flying by his own country because of concerns about his extremist views. uncertain
pilot → order → views
It also remains unclear how a citizen of Oman, an Arab country that has no diplomatic relations with Israel, was allowed to fly a planeload of Israelis to Tel Aviv. uncertain
that → remain → Aviv
On Sunday he instructed the National Security Council to appoint an examiner to "conduct a thorough review of all security aspects regarding foreign civil aviation to Israel". asserted
he → instruct → Israel
Israel does not have official diplomatic relations with Oman, and Mr Netanyahu has also said pilots from such countries were not permitted to operate flights to Israel. asserted
pilots → have → Israel
It is not clear how the co-pilot came to be assigned to the flight to Tel Aviv. asserted
pilot → come → Aviv
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support