The co-pilot of a FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv attempted to hijack and crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport’s terminal on Wednesday, stabbing the captain with a crash axe mid-flight, according to UAE and Israeli officials.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8, carrying 182 people, plunged 16,000 feet in 30 seconds before passengers and crew subdued the attacker, identified by media as Omani national Hamam Al-Hamami. A reserve pilot aboard the flight took control and landed the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained and later transferred to the UAE. The UAE prosecutor general called the incident a “terrorist attack.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a review of security protocols for international flights to Israel following the attack. Israeli investigators now believe Al-Hamami acted alone, according to i24 News and CBS News, though the probe remains ongoing. Authorities in Oman had previously barred Al-Hamami from flying due to extremist concerns, regional officials said.
Australian counterterrorism police are investigating Al-Hamami’s ties to Australia, where he studied at RMIT University in Melbourne around a decade ago but did not complete his engineering qualification, the university confirmed on Monday. The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, comprising the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police, and ASIO, is examining his time in the country, an AFP spokesperson said.
The Financial Times reported Al-Hamami allegedly visited radical mosques and extremist websites while in Australia, citing two people familiar with the investigation. UAE authorities had shared passenger and crew lists, including nationalities, with Israel before the flight, but no red flags were raised, regional officials said.
