Flydubai co‑pilot attacks aircraft en route to Tel Aviv

Investigation and classification

The United Arab Emirates is leading the investigation and described the incident as a terrorist attack. The UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi confirmed the assault as a terrorist attack, and the United Arab Emirates aviation authority is investigating possible terrorist activity or prior planning.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incident as an attempted act of jihadist terrorism.

Flight and emergency landing

The aircraft, a Flydubai 737 Max, was on a scheduled flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the co‑pilot attacked the captain with a crash ax and attempted to send the plane into a steep descent of nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds, dropping about 17,000 feet according to one report. Passengers and crew overpowered the co‑pilot, allowing a second pair of pilots to land the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Co‑pilot background

The co‑pilot, identified as Hamam al‑Hammami, is an Omani national who had been barred from flying on Oman Air in 2024 because of concerns about extremist views and was later assigned to a desk job after being found visiting radical Islamic websites. He left Oman Air’s pilot‑training programme in February 2025 after concerns about his extremist ideology and had posted online condoning violence against women and praising Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while studying remotely at Buckinghamshire New University.

Public and media response

Al‑Bayan, a pro‑Al Qaeda newsletter, praised the attack and called for copycat hijackings. PBS News Hour anchor Geoff Bennett noted that neither President Trump nor Prime Minister Netanyahu provided evidence of a terrorist motive, and Juliette Kayyem suggested the motive could be mental‑health issues or self‑radicalisation rather than state‑sponsored terrorism.