Sean's Daily News Digest

Dormant 7 updatessince 30 Sep 2026

flydubai co-pilot planned Tel Aviv airport suicide attack

The story so farThe attack was planned for September 30, when the co-pilot intended to seize a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight and crash it into a terminal at Ben Gurion Airport, but he was thwarted before completing it. A UAE investigation launched on October 1 found that the co-pilot used two earlier flights to Tel Aviv to familiarize himself with the flight route and the airport. The UAE attorney general said the co-pilot was inspired by the September 11 attacks after years of developing extreme Islamist views.

Still watching

  • Did the co-pilot have any contact with other people or groups during his two earlier trips to Tel Aviv?
  • What evidence supports the UAE claim that the co-pilot's drift toward extremism began in Australia?
  • What did New Zealand and Australian authorities find about his time training and studying there?
  • How did he plan an attack before joining flydubai, and why was an earlier attempt abandoned?
  • Did the co-pilot act alone or was he directed by someone else?
  • What are the recriminations among governments about, and who is blaming whom?

How it developed

  1. 10 Oct 2026→ in the 10 Oct 2026 issue

    flydubai co-pilot planned Tel Aviv airport suicide attack

    • The attack was planned for September 30, when the co-pilot intended to seize a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight and crash it into a terminal at Ben Gurion Airport, but he was thwarted before completing it.
    • A UAE investigation launched on October 1 found that the co-pilot used two earlier flights to Tel Aviv to familiarize himself with the flight route and the airport.
    • The UAE attorney general said the co-pilot was inspired by the September 11 attacks after years of developing extreme Islamist views.
  2. 6 Oct 2026→ in the 6 Oct 2026 issue

    flydubai co-pilot plot to crash plane into Ben-Gurion

    • The co-pilot told UAE interrogators he sought work at an airline flying to Tel Aviv and had planned to crash an earlier flight to Israel before abandoning that attempt, meaning the plot predated his joining flydubai, according to Israeli officials and sources.
    • The investigation has found the co-pilot intended to crash the plane into Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, according to a person familiar with the matter.
    • The co-pilot reportedly confessed to UAE investigators that he acted to avenge Gaza and wanted to die as a martyr, while Israel is trying to determine whether he acted alone or was sent by someone else.
  3. 4 Oct 2026→ in the 4 Oct 2026 issue

    FlyDubai flight cockpit attack co-pilot investigation

    • Australian state police and the country's domestic security agency are investigating the co-pilot's links to Australia, including time he reportedly spent there.
    • The Wall Street Journal reports that Omani officials scrutinized the co-pilot because of his embrace of extreme Islamist views, according to two people briefed on the investigation, and that he was banned from flying with Oman Air over concerns about his radical views.
    • Investigators want to know why Hamam al-Hammami took a radical turn and why he was hired to fly the sensitive Dubai-Tel Aviv route, and it remains unclear what background checks were carried out before he was allowed to fly to Israel.
  4. 3 Oct 2026→ in the 3 Oct 2026 issue

    FlyDubai Flight 1073 cockpit attack

    • The UAE prosecutor general said the co-pilot used a crash axe to attack the captain in an attempted "terrorist act" aimed at taking control of the aircraft, and an investigation is under way into all the circumstances, including motive.
    • The co-pilot, named as 29-year-old Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, had reportedly been barred from flying in Oman over concerns he held extremist views, according to U.S. media including the Wall Street Journal.
    • The UAE airline flydubai later hired al-Hammami, and a source told the Wall Street Journal it is unclear whether his background was checked, raising questions about pilot vetting and radicalisation screening.
  5. 2 Oct 2026→ in the 2 Oct 2026 issue

    Flydubai cockpit attack by co-pilot

    • Netanyahu said the co-pilot, identified as an Omani national, had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination" and clearly intended to down the plane, though he did not elaborate; an Israeli official said the co-pilot had "the motive to kill Jews."
    • President Trump said Iran was likely involved in the attack and would be "hit very hard" if it was, while Netanyahu said it is too early to determine whether Tehran had any role.
    • Captain Smit Machchhar, the stabbed Indian pilot, told Prime Minister Modi from his hospital bed that he opened the cockpit door so passengers could enter and overpower the co-pilot, saying he could not let all those people die.
  6. 1 Oct 2026→ in the 1 Oct 2026 issue

    FlyDubai Flight 1073 cockpit stabbing and diversion to Saudi Arabia

    • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a co-pilot stabbed the Indian captain of flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv in an attempt to crash the plane, and that Israel will get to the "root" of the attack.
    • Passengers and crew burst into the cockpit and subdued the attacker after the plane plunged about 17,000 feet in under two minutes, and the flight was diverted to land safely in Saudi Arabia.
    • The UAE opened an investigation into whether "terrorist activity" played a role, while the attacker's motive remains unknown and officials say scenarios from terrorism to mental disorders are being examined.
  7. 30 Sep 2026→ in the 30 Sep 2026 issue

    Flydubai Tel Aviv flight diverted to Saudi Arabia

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