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The United Arab Emirates said Friday that a 29-year-old Omani co-pilot on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv had planned to seize the aircraft and crash it into Ben Gurion Airport’s passenger terminal in a suicide attack inspired by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S.
Federal Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the investigation into the Sept. 30 incident found that the co-pilot planned the attack in advance and intended to cause the greatest possible loss of life, according to the UAE’s official WAM news agency.
Flight FZ1073, carrying 174 passengers, was diverted to Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after the co-pilot attacked the captain inside the cockpit with an emergency axe, prosecutors said. The passengers were overwhelmingly Israeli.
According to investigators, the captain resisted the attack and tried to call for help.
A pilot assigned to the aircraft’s return flight became suspicious after noticing the cockpit door repeatedly opening and closing. He entered using a security code and saw the co-pilot attacking the captain.
The pilot, assisted by a cabin crew member and several passengers, rescued the injured captain and restrained the suspect. The return-flight crew then took control of the aircraft and landed safely in Tabuk.
A forensic report found that the captain suffered potentially life-threatening head injuries consistent with an emergency axe attack.
Al Shamsi said investigators found indications of extremist views dating to 2017, when the suspect was studying in Australia.
According to the investigation, he became influenced by extremist publications and online material glorifying terrorist organizations and suicide attacks.
The suspect confessed that the Sept. 11 attacks inspired him to consider carrying out a similar operation involving an aircraft and that this idea was connected to his decision to pursue aviation as a career, Al Shamsi said.
Investigators also said he used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to study the route and airport before attempting the attack on his third flight.
The suspect worked for Oman Air from 2020 to 2024, joined Royal Air Maroc in early 2025 and moved to flydubai in January 2026.
Al Shamsi said flydubai’s recruitment process found that the co-pilot met all professional and security requirements, including holding a valid pilot’s license, providing a certificate of good conduct and completing required checks.
“None of the procedures revealed any indications of his extremist views or his intention to carry out a terrorist plot,” he said.
The suspect gave a detailed confession in the presence of his lawyer and said he acted alone. Prosecutors said the investigation is continuing to verify that claim and examine possible accomplices, recordings and technical evidence.
Flydubai initially described the incident as an “altercation” in the cockpit and later suspended flights to and from Israel. CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said Oct. 2 that the suspension would remain in place until further notice at the authorities’ request.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the passengers and pilot after the incident and ordered a “thorough review of all security aspects of foreign civil aviation to Israel.”
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