UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi announced on Saturday that investigations into the assistant captain of a Flydubai plane during a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv revealed his planning to carry out a “terrorist” operation. He added, "Investigations are still underway to uncover all the circumstances of the incident, its motives, and the links associated with it," according to what was reported by the official Emirates News Agency. The attack occurred on Wednesday on a Flydubai plane, which was carrying 172 passengers, including 166 Israelis, in addition to the crew members.

Published on: 03/10/2026 - 08:21 Last updated: 03/10/2026 - 10:46

The UAE Public Prosecutor said on Saturday that investigations into the assistant captain of the Flydubai plane indicated that he planned to carry out a “terrorist operation” during the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. He began implementing his plan during the flight, as he assaulted the pilot of the plane inside the cockpit using an “emergency axe” and tried to control the plane’s controls.

Public Prosecutor Hamad Saif Al Shamsi added, “Investigations are still ongoing to uncover all the circumstances of the incident, its motives, and the links associated with it,” according to what was reported by the official Emirates News Agency.

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

But media reports confirmed that the attacker, identified as Hammam Al-Hammami and born to an Omani father and a Syrian mother, joined Fly Dubai after leaving his job at Oman Air and failing to get a job at Emirates Airlines.

Read also: What do we know about the co-pilot who stabbed the captain of the Flydubai plane?

International media reported on Saturday that he was banned from flying in his country on suspicion of holding extremist views.

Al Arabiya networks, 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 extremist Islamic groups during a trip he took to Syria.

Read also: “I realized that the plane was going to crash.” The pilot of the “Fly Dubai” flight tells the details of what happened inside the cockpit

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, managed 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.

The exact circumstances of the attack and the motives of its perpetrator have not yet been clarified, while the United Arab Emirates, to which the pilot and his co-pilot were transferred, are conducting an investigation into the incident.

Read also: The “Fly Dubai” incident is at the forefront of regional tension, and Trump threatens Iran if its involvement is proven

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."

France 24/AFP

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