FlyDubai Pilot Planned to Use Plane as Weapon Against Israel

The suspect, identified as Hamam Al-Hamami, was subdued on September 30 during a flight from Dubai to Israel. He attacked the captain, Captain Smith Majchar, with an emergency axe in the cockpit. Another pilot, scheduled for the return flight, noticed unusual activity, entered the cockpit using the security code, and, with the help of crew members and passengers, overpowered the suspect and rescued the injured captain. The plane was safely diverted and landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Investigations revealed that Al-Hamami's radicalization began in 2017 while he was studying in Melbourne, Australia, where he frequented a mosque associated with RMIT University and met individuals linked to a center run by a Lebanese man known as Abu Hamza. Al-Hamami used two prior flights to Israel to conduct reconnaissance, studying the flight path and the layout of Ben Gurion Airport. Although he confessed to acting alone, UAE authorities are investigating potential accomplices. Al-Hamami, who had previously been suspended for extremism, now faces the death penalty in the UAE, and Israeli security forces are participating in his interrogation.