FlyDubai co-pilot Hammam al-Hammami attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit's emergency crash axe and tried to seize control of flight FZ1073 in what the United Arab Emirates has formally classified as an attempted terrorist act. UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi announced the finding on Saturday, October 3, 2026, giving the clearest official account yet of the mid-air assault that nearly brought down a Boeing 737 carrying 182 people.
What the UAE investigation found
According to the attorney general, investigators established that the co-pilot "had attempted to carry out a terrorist act" and "attacked the captain in the cockpit with the emergency axe and tried to take control of the aircraft," the UAE state news agency WAM reported. A crash axe is standard cockpit equipment, kept for emergencies such as crashes.
Flight FZ1073 was en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, September 30, with more than 170 passengers and crew — most of them Israeli nationals — when the aircraft entered a terrifying descent over Saudi Arabia. Flight-tracking data cited by Reuters showed the jet dropped about 16,625 feet in just over 30 seconds; Flightradar24 put the loss at roughly 17,000 feet in a minute, from about 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet.
The investigation, led by a specialist team under the attorney general, is continuing into the co-pilot's motives, possible links, and whether others were involved, alongside technical examinations and analysis of physical and digital evidence.
"In that moment I was fighting for my life"
Captain Machchhar, speaking from his hospital bed in Abu Dhabi, described how the attack began. The co-pilot had asked for time to pray — "a lot of locals, they do pray, which is not out of the ordinary," the captain said. "While he was praying, out of respect, I was just looking at the front and not at the back."
"Suddenly after I think I would say about four to five minutes, there was a big blow to the back of my head… But then after that the blows kept coming one after the other. That's when I realised that it's not the aircraft, it's the other guy who was in the cockpit with me."
Despite serious injuries, Machchhar managed to pull open the cockpit door — "but I think he shut it back closed" — before passengers and crew rushed in and overpowered the attacker. The jet made an emergency landing in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained.
Who the co-pilot is
The UAE has not officially named the co-pilot, but two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters he is Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani national — a detail also confirmed to AFP by a Saudi source. Oman has not commented publicly.
Multiple outlets, citing sources familiar with the investigation, report that al-Hammami — who has a Syrian mother and was born in the UAE — had been banned from flying in Oman over concerns about extremist views before being hired by the Dubai government-owned airline. A Gulf diplomat told the Associated Press that investigators are working to establish whether he acted as a "lone wolf or has any connection with any extremist groups."
A hero's welcome — and a "9/11" warning
Captain Machchhar has been hailed across the region. UAE Deputy Prime Minister Hamdan bin Mohammed visited him in hospital, praising "the highest degrees of courage, responsibility, and care for human life." He also spoke by video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his hospital bed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the incident an apparent attempt to crash the aircraft, said those who intervened had "prevented a 9/11 disaster." On Saturday he invited Machchhar — and Modi — to Israel as guests of honour to light a flame at the national Independence Day ceremony next May, an honour usually reserved for Israeli citizens.
The first flight carrying Israelis home from the UAE landed in Tel Aviv after services were briefly suspended following the attack, Israel's airport authority confirmed.
The takeaway: four days after the world's most dramatic cockpit assault in years, the UAE's verdict is unambiguous — this was a planned terrorist act, stopped only by a wounded captain and the passengers who stormed the cockpit. The motive investigation will determine whether al-Hammami acted alone.
Watch: Flydubai Flight: Investigating the Co-Pilot Attack — video report
Sources
- The National — Flydubai co-pilot attacked pilot with axe in 'attempted terrorist act'
- CNA — UAE investigators say flydubai co-pilot was planning 'terrorist act'
- The Business Times — Flydubai co-pilot attacked pilot with axe in attempted 'terrorist attack'
- Radio X — Flydubai co-pilot 'attacked pilot with axe in suspected terrorist attack'