Flydubai Pilot Planned to Crash Plane in Israel, Investigation Reveals

The pilot suspected in the Flydubai incident confessed during interrogation that his intention was to crash the plane in Israel, according to a Saturday report by ABC News. This comes amid Western and Saudi reports that the pilot was suspended in Oman due to his extremist views. The United Arab Emirates has officially stated that the pilot attempted a terror attack. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, the Attorney General of the UAE, announced that the investigation into the Flydubai flight indicates the attacker pilot sought to carry out a terrorist act. Al Shamsi also detailed that the co-pilot began executing his plan during the flight, attacking the captain in the cockpit with an emergency axe and attempting to seize control of the aircraft. The investigation is ongoing, with technical, forensic, and digital tests yet to be completed, and final results will be announced upon their conclusion.

According to an Israeli official and two other sources who spoke to CNN, the attacker pilot, identified as Humam Al-Hamami and holding Omani citizenship, was also named by Saudi media. One source indicated he was born in the UAE to an Omani father and Syrian mother and lived in the UAE for several years. A LinkedIn profile under the name Humam Al-Hamami stated he worked for Oman Air for seven years, leaving in February 2025, before joining Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 and departing in January 2026. The profile did not mention Flydubai. One source confirmed the profile belonged to the Flydubai pilot involved in the incident. The profile has since been deleted, and CNN has reached out to LinkedIn for comment.

Suspiciously, two posts appeared on Al-Hamami's LinkedIn account on Wednesday, about nine hours after the incident, though it is unclear who posted them or if they were pre-scheduled. The first post contained videos from a Boeing 737 MAX cockpit, identified as a 737 MAX 8. One video, geolocated by CNN to Dubai International Airport, zooms in on an El Al aircraft. The cockpit display showed flight number OMA624 and the date October 11, 2023, matching a flight typically from Dubai to Muscat during Al-Hamami's tenure at Oman Air. Other clips showed El Al and Arkia planes. The video concluded with images of Ayman al-Zawahiri, former leader of Al-Qaeda, and Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, an Al-Qaeda operative who carried out a suicide bombing in 2009 that killed nine people, including seven CIA officers and contractors.

The second post featured an AI-generated image of Islam's three holiest sites, Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem, connected by a glowing path, with defiant recitation of a poem about rejecting humiliation, fearing no death, and maintaining self-respect. Al-Hamami's LinkedIn profile indicated he studied at Buckinghamshire New University in England, where a university official confirmed he completed a three-year distance learning program, earning a degree in Aviation Management in 2023. Similar videos and images were posted around the same time on an Instagram account under the same name before it was also deleted.

CNN's analysis of Al-Hamami's deleted X account revealed him as a deeply religious individual with misogynistic views. Deleted tweets from 2021-2022, analyzed by AI, showed him discussing his mother's difficulties finding a wife who would accept his conditions: wearing a niqab and ceasing work after marriage. He also strongly opposed mixed-gender workplaces, claiming they had a corrupting influence on women.