Axe Attack in the Cockpit: How a FlyDubai Co-Pilot Nearly Brought Down a Flight to Tel Aviv

The co-pilot accused of attacking the captain of an Israel-bound FlyDubai flight used a crash axe and "attempted to carry out a terrorist attack," the United Arab Emirates' prosecutor general said on Saturday. A crash axe is a standard emergency tool kept in the cockpit for pilots.

Prosecutor General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi said the co-pilot of flight FZ1073 tried to take control of the aircraft. He said the investigation continues to uncover all the circumstances of the incident, its motives, and related connections, in addition to completing technical examinations and examining physical and digital evidence.

The co-pilot, who nearly crashed the Tel Aviv-bound flight carrying 182 people, is an Omani national named Hamam al-Hammami. Sources reported that he was banned from flying by Oman over concerns that he held radical ideological views, and was moved to an administrative job at Oman Air. He was later hired by UAE-based airline FlyDubai. It was not immediately clear to what extent he was vetted when hired.

The co-pilot was born in the UAE and had worked with Oman's national airline. Little else was immediately known about his background. His Instagram account was active until the day of the flight and then deleted. How he managed to be in the cockpit on Wednesday morning is a central question for investigators. Israel has agreements with foreign carriers to keep pilots from flying into the country if they are citizens of nations that do not maintain diplomatic relations with it. Israel and Oman do not have formal diplomatic relations.

Security agencies from four regional countries were working to establish the co-pilot's motives, aided by the United States and other Western governments. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the co-pilot had undergone "Islamist radicalization," but provided no evidence.

The FlyDubai captain, Indian national Smit Machchhar, told India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an emotional video from his hospital bed in Saudi Arabia that he used his remaining energy while being attacked to unlock the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to come in, subdue the co-pilot, and stabilize the plane. "I was fighting for my life," Machchhar said. "When I was lying on the floor I could feel the aircraft was going down. I knew exactly that this would be the last push. I told myself that if I didn't get up, there would be a problem. I managed to open the door, and then everyone else came in."

UAE presidential advisor Anwar Gargash said the Indian pilot "deserves every bit of appreciation, for he embodied the meaning of courage and responsibility in the face of a dangerous terrorist act and a potential disaster. His professionalism and moral sense in the darkest of circumstances make him a true hero." Gargash added that "vigilance and caution remain essential in confronting the risks of extremism and terrorism."

The attack left the region's travel industry in crisis, raising questions about aviation security and further unsettling a Middle East already shaken by the US-Iran war. The UAE cancelled all flights to Israel, while Israel's El Al airline cancelled its scheduled flights to the UAE following the incident. Israel and the UAE agreed on repatriation flights to bring back passengers.

For now, one pilot is being hailed as a hero, another is under investigation, and the aviation industry is asking how a man barred from flying in one country ended up in the cockpit of a commercial airliner in another.

Written by Sandy van Dongen sandy.vandongen@alpineweekly.com