United Arab Emirates prosecutors say a Flydubai co-pilot planned and attempted a terrorist act by attacking the captain with a crash axe and trying to seize control of an Israel-bound passenger aircraft.
The UAE Attorney-General, Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, announced the formal assessment on Saturday, 3 October, as investigators continued examining the events aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073. The flight was travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when the violent struggle erupted inside the cockpit.
According to the Attorney-General, the co-pilot began carrying out a plan during the flight, assaulted the captain with the emergency axe kept on the flight deck and attempted to take control of the aircraft’s controls.
The plane, carrying 182 people, entered a dangerous descent before passengers and other people aboard intervened and subdued the alleged attacker. Crew members travelling on the aircraft helped stabilise it before an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Captain Smit Machchhar was seriously injured during the attack. UAE state media reported that Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum later visited him and praised his courage, responsibility and efforts to protect human life.
Investigation remains open
The terrorist classification represents a significant development, but the investigation has not reached its final conclusion. UAE prosecutors said officials were still working to establish the full circumstances, motive and any connections linked to the incident.
Technical examinations and analysis of physical and digital evidence are also continuing. The Attorney-General said final results would be announced when the required procedures were complete.
That distinction is important. Authorities have described the alleged action as a planned attempted terrorist act, but they have not publicly identified an organisation behind it or announced evidence of a wider operational network.
The co-pilot has been identified in international reporting as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national. Reports citing regional officials and diplomats said he had previously been removed from flying duties at Oman Air because of concerns about extremist views before being hired by Flydubai.
Those employment claims have not been publicly confirmed in detail by Oman Air or the Omani government. Flydubai has said there are many unanswered questions and has limited its comments while the official investigation proceeds.
Investigators are therefore likely to examine not only what happened in the cockpit, but also the information available during recruitment, the scope of pre-employment screening and whether warning signs held by one employer or authority were communicated across borders.
Why a crash axe was in the cockpit
A crash axe is emergency equipment carried on many commercial aircraft. It is intended to help crew members break through panels, windows or other obstructions during a fire or evacuation. Its presence on the flight deck does not require a passenger to defeat normal airport weapons screening.
The incident illustrates a difficult part of aviation security. Procedures designed to keep unauthorised people and weapons outside a cockpit cannot remove every threat posed by a person who is already authorised to be inside it.
Airlines and regulators manage that risk through recruitment checks, recurrent vetting, crew procedures, reporting systems and restrictions on cockpit access. However, employment records and security information do not always move easily between countries, particularly when concerns have not resulted in a criminal conviction.
Aviation security specialists are expected to study whether existing international information-sharing arrangements were sufficient and whether additional safeguards are needed when pilots move between airlines and jurisdictions.
A disaster narrowly avoided
Accounts of the emergency indicate that the outcome depended on a rapid chain of actions. The injured captain managed to make the cockpit accessible, people aboard confronted the co-pilot, and trained crew members helped regain control and land the aircraft.
The safe landing prevented a potential mass-casualty disaster and allowed the passengers, most of whom were reported to be Israeli, to continue their journey on another aircraft.
The case also raises questions for passengers about how airlines communicate after an extreme security event. Clear factual updates are essential, particularly when an investigation involves several countries and unverified claims can spread quickly online.
For now, the most authoritative finding is the UAE prosecutor’s statement that the co-pilot attacked the captain with emergency equipment and attempted to take control of the aircraft as part of an alleged terrorist plan. The motive, possible links and any failures in recruitment or information sharing remain under investigation.
Passengers should continue to follow official safety instructions when flying and avoid circulating unverified identities, motives or cockpit footage while the inquiry is active. Podium News will update this report when UAE investigators release their final findings.
