The co-pilot of a flydubai flight attempted to carry out a terrorist attack by attacking the captain with a crash axe during a flight to Israel, Emirati investigators have said.
The incident occurred aboard Flight FZ1073 after it departed Dubai for Tel Aviv. Passengers reportedly overpowered the co-pilot, allowing two off-duty pilots on board to help stabilise the Boeing 737 MAX and make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
UAE Prosecutor General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the early findings showed that the co-pilot had attacked the pilot inside the cockpit using an axe kept on the aircraft for emergencies.
“Investigations into the incident involving flydubai flight FZ1073 found that the co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist attack,” Mr Al Shamsi said in a statement carried by the UAE’s state news agency.
The finding indicates that the weapon was an item already carried on the aircraft, rather than a knife or other weapon brought through airport security. It is expected to prompt further scrutiny of safeguards designed to prevent a pilot from attacking colleagues in the cockpit.
The co-pilot has been identified by media reports as Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national who is alleged to have expressed extremist views online. The UAE is leading the investigation because the flight began in Dubai.
Israeli authorities have alleged that Mr al-Hammami underwent Islamist radical indoctrination before stabbing the chief pilot and forcing the aircraft towards the ground. Accounts of what was said during the incident have varied.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the pilot had shouted “kill me, kill me” after the co-pilot was restrained and tied up on the cabin floor. Israeli officials have also alleged that the co-pilot discussed killing Jews and displayed a jihadist ideology online.
Those claims are based on Israeli inquiries and witness accounts. CNN reported that social-media videos linked to the co-pilot appeared to show Israeli aircraft and images of former al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who carried out a suicide bombing in Afghanistan in 2009.
However, the videos were reportedly uploaded after the emergency, raising questions about how they appeared online and who posted them.
Reports have also raised questions about Mr al-Hammami’s previous employment. The Wall Street Journal reported that Oman had barred him from flying because of concerns over radical ideological views, while CNN said he had been removed from a position at Oman’s national airline last year.
A LinkedIn profile in his name said he had worked for Oman Air for seven years before leaving in February 2025, and later spent time with Royal Air Maroc. The profile was subsequently deleted. Royal Air Maroc said he had completed three months of training with the airline in 2025 but that his application for employment was rejected.
Mr al-Hammami had been flying for flydubai for about eight months, according to the reports. Israeli authorities have questioned why an Omani citizen was assigned to a flight bound for Israel, given that Oman and Israel do not have formal diplomatic relations.
The co-pilot was transferred from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi on Thursday. A source briefed on the investigation said Israeli officials were expected to question him in the UAE, although it was not clear which agency would be involved.
Anwar Gargash, a senior adviser to the UAE president, said the country had zero tolerance for terrorism and would show no leniency towards extremist rhetoric.
