FlyDubai co-pilot planned to crash jet into Israeli airport, official says

The Omani co-pilot who allegedly attempted to hijack a FlyDubai flight to Israel last week told interrogators in the United Arab Emirates last week that he planned the attack even before he was employed by the Emirati airline more than a year ago, according to an Israeli official. 

He had intended to crash the FlyDubai jet into Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, the official said, adding that the co-pilot, who multiple sources familiar with the investigation have identified to CBS News as Omani national Hamam al Hamami, had flown to Israel in the past.

A series of major security failures preceded the alleged hijacking attempt, and insiders told CBS News on Monday that the incident should have been prevented long before the plane even took off.

“A huge failure”

Israel’s own security protocols should’ve prohibited al Hamami from ever flying to Tel Aviv, according to Eytan Ben David, a former deputy head of aviation security at El Al, Israel’s flagship airline.

The Sept. 30 flight was approaching Israel when the co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain with the plane’s crash ax and attempted to crash the aircraft, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, passengers on board the plane and the flight captain.  

Israel receives lists of passengers and crew for all flights into the country in advance, and, at least in the past, each individual was checked by a security division inside the transportation ministry to make sure they posed no threat, Ben David told CBS News.

An Omani pilot should never have been permitted to fly into Israel under its current guidelines, as Oman does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel, said Ben David, who is also a former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council.

“It’s enough that you see that he is of Omani nationality to say, ‘Stop, he cannot fly to Israel because he is Omani, replace him with another pilot,'” said Ben David.

“It’s a huge failure, and it’s a big miracle,” he added of the seemingly narrowly averted catastrophe.

Ben David said he once personally prohibited a pilot with Iranian citizenship from flying a Turkish Airlines plane into Israel under the same rules, which extend to Iran.

Sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News it is possible al Hamami has dual citizenship, which could explain how he was allowed to fly to Israel.

Smit Machchhar, the FlyDubai captain, was able to fight off his co-pilot long enough to unlock the cockpit door, he told India’s leader last week from a hospital bed in Saudi Arabia where he was recovering from stab wounds.

A group of Israeli passengers and FlyDubai staff then overpowered the co-pilot, and two off-duty pilots who were on the flight managed to gain control of the aircraft and make an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Israel’s government passed a law in 2023 that requires foreign airlines to submit a list of passengers and crew ahead of all flights to Israel, aimed at preventing terrorist incidents.

Following the alleged attempted hijacking last week, Israel’s transportation ministry, as well as its domestic and foreign security agencies, have all said they were not responsible for vetting foreign flight crews. 

Ben David said the responsibility to properly vet foreign pilots primarily falls on the security branch inside Israel’s transportation ministry.

Israel has made efforts for many years to secure its own airlines and vet their personnel. But foreign airlines and their crews have emerged as a potential gap in aviation security, and Israel’s near tragedy last week is likely to trigger a reevaluation, Ben David said.

“I’m sure all the countries in the world heard about this and said to themselves, ‘Let’s check what the situation is for us,'” he told CBS News.

Other security lapses?

Failing to block him based on his nationality is just one example of the apparent failures that took place before al Hamami boarded the flight to Tel Aviv last week.

He had also been removed from his role as a pilot by his previous employer, Oman Air, with which he underwent new pilot training, sources told CBS News over the weekend.

Surveillance by Omani authorities revealed that he was visiting radical websites, the sources said. 

Oman Air transferred him to an office job. One of the sources said al Hamami resigned from his job at Oman Air after being placed on desk duty, leaving the airline around 2024.

Al Hamami then moved to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, where he was hired by FlyDubai. The Emirati carrier hired the Omani without vetting him with Oman’s government, the sources told CBS News, and as he was not fired by the first airline, he may not have raised any red flags anyway.

FlyDubai told CBS News on Monday that it could not respond to questions on the incident due to the ongoing investigation.

Al Hamami is an Omani citizen but was not born in Oman and lived most of his life outside the Persian Gulf nation, the sources told CBS News. They said his mother is Syrian and his father is Omani.

Oman’s government has not publicly confirmed the co-pilot’s nationality.