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Crime03 October, 20263 min read

UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al-Shamsi Says Omani Flydubai Co-Pilot Planned Ben Gurion Attack

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UAE prosecutor says co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami planned a 9/11-style suicide attack on Ben Gurion. Pilot stabbed captain Smit Machchhar; passengers and crew subdued attacker as aircraft diverted to Tabuk.

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UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al-Shamsi Says Omani Flydubai Co-Pilot Planned Ben Gurion Attack
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UAE plot against Ben Gurion

UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi said prosecutors found that a 29-year-old Omani co-pilot began implementing an ideologically extremist plot to target the passenger terminal building at Ben Gurion Airport during flight FZ1073 on September 30. The UAE prosecutor said the co-pilot acted with the intention of causing the greatest possible number of human casualties, and the plan was inspired by the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. The co-pilot attacked the aircraft captain inside the cockpit with a crash axe, while the captain resisted the assault and attempted to seek help.

Passengers then detained the co-pilot and helped steady the aircraft after it dropped about 14,000 to 16,000 feet in less than a minute, and reserve pilots guided the plane to an emergency landing at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia. The UAE investigation said the co-pilot admitted he acted alone, without the involvement of others, and provided a detailed confession outlining his motives and the stages of planning and execution in the presence of his lawyer.

Image from - AJN Agencia de Noticias
Image: - AJN Agencia de Noticias
Reporting for this sectionIndia TodayAl-Ain Al-Akhbariya

Radicalisation in Australia

UAE prosecutors said the co-pilot’s shift toward extremism and terrorism began while he was studying at RMIT University in Melbourne, and they said he was influenced by hardline takfiri ideology through reading extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorist organisations and suicide attacks. The UAE Attorney General said the co-pilot told investigators he drew inspiration from the September 11, 2001 attacks and that "The idea of carrying out a similar operation using an aircraft became firmly established in his thinking," according to the statement. The investigation said the co-pilot frequented a mosque affiliated with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2017 and became acquainted with people running "My Centre".

The co-pilot’s confessions said "My Centre" was run by a Lebanese man named "Abu Hamza" and that the center enjoyed support from a foundation linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. RMIT University confirmed that he studied at its Melbourne campus but did not successfully complete an engineering qualification, while Australian security agencies launched an investigation after it emerged he spent about two years in the country as a student until 2017.

Image from - AJN Agencia de Noticias
Image: - AJN Agencia de Noticias
Reporting for this sectionThe GuardianAl-Ain Al-Akhbariya

Screening, custody, and fallout

UAE prosecutors said investigators examined Flydubai’s recruiting procedures and found the co-pilot met professional and security requirements, including holding a pilot’s licence and providing a certificate of good conduct, while also saying none of the procedures revealed any indications of extremist views or an intention to carry out a terrorist plot. The Reuters account said the statement did not appear to implicate flydubai in any wrongdoing, and it said the most detailed account yet from prosecutors came after the UAE took over the investigation shortly after the September 30 incident. The investigation described how a returning-flight captain noticed the door repeatedly opening and closing in an unusual manner, approached and attempted to enter using the security code, and succeeded in doing so, witnessing the co-pilot assaulting the aircraft captain.

The UAE Public Prosecution said it continues to examine the evidence and verify whether there are partners or other connections, and it said updates would be announced as dictated by the interests of the investigation. The BBC said the co-pilot planned a suicide attack inspired by September 11, and it reported that the pilot was injured but managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to restrain the attacker and force the aircraft to land in a forced landing in Saudi Arabia.

Reporting for this section1470 & 100.3 WMBDBBC