Dubai (AFP) - The UAE Attorney General announced on Saturday that investigations into the co-captain of a Flydubai plane revealed that he planned to carry out a “terrorist operation” using an “emergency axe” to attack the pilot during the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, according to what was reported by the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

Published on: 03/10/2026 - 09:34

The official agency quoted Public Prosecutor Hamad Saif Al Shamsi as saying, “Investigations into the FZ1073 incident revealed that the plane’s co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist operation,” and that “he began implementing his plan during the flight, as he assaulted the plane’s pilot inside the cockpit using the emergency axe and tried to control the plane’s controls.”

He added, "Investigations are still ongoing to uncover all the circumstances of the incident, its motives, and the links associated with it."

The UAE did not reveal on Saturday the nationality of the co-pilot, who the Saudi authorities announced on Thursday had been transferred to the UAE with the Indian captain.

However, several international media outlets reported on Saturday that he was Omani and identified as Humam Al-Hammami, born to an Omani father and a Syrian mother.

Al Arabiya, CNN, ABC, and the Wall Street Journal reported that the Omani authorities prevented the co-pilot from flying planes for security reasons, on the belief that he was influenced by the ideology of extremist Islamic groups during a trip he took to Syria.

The attack occurred on Wednesday on a Flydubai plane, which was carrying 172 passengers, including 166 Israelis, in addition to crew members, on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The co-pilot stabbed the Indian captain, who, despite his injury, was able to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew members to control the attacker.

The plane made an emergency landing at Tabuk Airport, Saudi Arabia.

Israel denounced the "attempted jihadist terrorist attack," and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the co-pilot "had undergone a process of extremist Islamic ideological indoctrination... and he intended to shoot down the plane."

Anwar Gargash, advisor to the UAE president, on Friday described the attack as a "dangerous terrorist act."

© 2026 AFP

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