Flydubai FZ1073: The Co-Pilot Accused of Trying to Crash a Plane Into Tel Aviv — Timeline, Route, Suspect Background and the Captain Who Survived

Posted Oct 9, 2026

By daite

9 min read

An investigation led by the United Arab Emirates is under way into the co-pilot of a Flydubai Boeing 737 who is suspected of trying to hijack the plane and crash it in a terrorist attack on Israel. The co-pilot, reported to be an Omani citizen, is also being looked at in Australia, where he reportedly visited radical mosques while studying, and in New Zealand, where he spent time in flight training.

Most of what follows comes from officials and anonymous sources quoted by CBS, Al Jazeera, CNN, Reuters and others. Much of it is preliminary, and I flag where details are unconfirmed or differ between outlets. No charges have been announced yet.

The Short Version

Item	What has been reported
Flight	Flydubai FZ1073, Dubai (DXB) → Tel Aviv (TLV)
Date	Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Aircraft	Boeing 737 MAX (per Airline Geeks)
On board	172 to 174 people depending on the outlet, most of them Israelis
Deaths	None reported
Injured	The captain (axe wounds, seriously hurt); a passenger was hospitalized and released; Saudi authorities said two crew members were hospitalized
Outcome	Landed safely at Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
Suspect	Co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami, 29, reported to be Omani (identity not officially confirmed)

Flight Route: Dubai to Tel Aviv, Diverted to Tabuk

FZ1073 was a scheduled Dubai–Tel Aviv service. Flydubai’s Israel route flies roughly north-west over Saudi Arabia, then towards Israel. About two hours into the flight, the plane was reportedly approaching Israeli airspace when the incident began.

After the cockpit fight, the aircraft turned back towards Saudi Arabia. It was reportedly about 400 miles (650 km) from Israel when it did, and it landed at Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia.

A note on Flightradar24: the news reports I reviewed do not publish Flightradar24 track data, and I did not retrieve the live track myself. The altitude figures below are from reporting, not from a flight-data download. Different outlets give different numbers, so treat them as approximate. For the actual track, search “FZ1073” on Flightradar24’s playback or ADS-B Exchange for September 30.

Timeline

All times are Dubai time (UTC+4) where reported.

When	What happened
Sept 30, ~7:05 am	FZ1073 departs Dubai for Tel Aviv with about 174 people on board (Al Jazeera).
About 2 to 2.5 hours into the flight	The plane suddenly descends. Reports put the drop at 14,000 to more than 17,000 feet in about two minutes. A fight breaks out in the cockpit. The UAE attorney general says the co-pilot attacked the captain with the cockpit crash axe and tried to take control.
During the descent	Israeli Air Force attempts to reach the cockpit by radio go unanswered. Israel closes its airspace and scrambles jets.
Moments later	The captain, wounded, fights the co-pilot off long enough to unlock the cockpit door. Passengers and crew overpower the co-pilot and drag him out. The aircraft levels off near 15,000 feet and the transponder is set to 7500, the code for unlawful interference (hijacking).
Divert	The plane turns towards Saudi Arabia. Israeli jets are recalled.
~9:45 am	Two off-duty Flydubai pilots who were on board as passengers or reserve crew take the controls and land the plane safely at Tabuk. The co-pilot is arrested on landing.
Oct 1	The suspect is transferred from Saudi Arabia to the UAE for questioning by UAE, Israeli and Saudi officials. President Trump suggests a possible Iran link, without giving evidence.
Oct 2	Prime Minister Netanyahu says the co-pilot “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination” and that Israel is investigating whether he was sent by someone.
Oct 3	The UAE attorney general calls it a “terrorist operation.” Abu Dhabi leads the investigation. Flydubai’s Israel flights remain suspended.
Oct 4	Israeli sources say he probably acted alone. Netanyahu orders a security review of international flights to Israel. Australian police confirm a terror probe into his links to the country.
Oct 5 to 6	New Zealand police confirm he spent time there for flight training in 2018 to 2019.

Casualties

No one was killed. That is the most important fact in a story that could have ended very differently, given the plane’s reported intended target.

Captain: seriously wounded by the axe; recovering in a hospital in Abu Dhabi.
Passenger: one was hospitalized and has since been released.
Crew: Saudi authorities said two crew members were hospitalized with unspecified injuries.

The Suspect: Who He Is and What Is Known

The following all rests on media reports and anonymous officials. The UAE has not published a full profile, and Oman has not publicly confirmed his nationality.

Identity. Hamam al-Hammami (also spelled al-Hamami), 29. Sources say his father is Omani and his mother Syrian. CNN reported he was born in the UAE and spent years there. Dual citizenship has been suggested but is unconfirmed.

Career.

Worked for Oman Air, reportedly for about seven years according to a LinkedIn profile bearing his name (authenticity unconfirmed), entering pilot training.
ABC News, citing officials, reported he was found with extremist materials while a co-pilot trainee in 2024. The Wall Street Journal and CNN reported he was barred or removed from flying over concerns about extremist views, and moved to an administrative role. He later resigned (early reports said he was fired; CBS corrected this).
Then hired by Flydubai. Israeli officials say Flydubai did not check his background with Oman’s government.
The LinkedIn profile also mentions a stint at Royal Air Maroc in 2025 to 2026. Unverified.

Australia. The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO) is investigating his links to Australia. Sources say he studied in Melbourne about a decade ago; RMIT confirmed an enrolled person who did not complete an engineering qualification. The Financial Times reported, citing two people familiar with the case, that he visited radical mosques and extremist websites while there, and that Australian intelligence held a file on him. Reuters said it could not independently verify those claims, and Australian authorities have not confirmed them.

New Zealand. Police confirmed he was in the country from November 2018 to May 2019 on a six-month student visa to complete part of his flight training for a UK-based company that no longer operates there. Police are reviewing records.

Other education. Buckinghamshire New University confirmed he completed a distance course in aviation management, not pilot training.

Why Did He Do It? What Is Actually Known About Motive

No motive has been officially established. What has been reported:

Alleged confession. An Israeli official told CBS that during interrogation the suspect said he planned the attack before joining Flydubai, for more than a year, and intended to crash the plane at Ben Gurion Airport. Netanyahu said it was “very likely” he meant to crash the plane with everyone on board.
Ideology. Israeli leaders describe it as jihadist terrorism; Defense Minister Israel Katz called it “an attempted jihadist terror attack.” Sources say he posted a video of El Al planes in Dubai that ended with a photo of the late al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Netanyahu said the co-pilot shouted for someone to kill him after being subdued, calling it “like a suicide attempt.”
Radicalization history. The pattern in the reports, from extremist materials flagged at Oman Air to alleged radical mosque visits in Australia, suggests a long, slow process rather than a sudden decision. But the Australia claims are single-sourced, and the content of his supposed beliefs is not public.
Lone wolf or directed? Israeli sources told CNN he probably acted alone, and the AP reported no militant group connection has been found. Trump’s suggestion of an Iran link is unsupported by any published evidence; Netanyahu said it was “too early to say.”
Why Israel? Oman has no normal diplomatic relations with Israel, so former Israeli officials questioned why he was flying there at all. An Israeli official said he had flown to Israel before, which may have given him familiarity with the approach.

The honest answer is that the “why” is still partly speculation. Radicalization signals appear to have been spotted years ago in Oman, but the specific trigger, and whether anyone helped him, remain open.

The Captain: Smit Machchhar

The captain is Smit Machchhar, an Indian national. Reports say he was attacked with the crash axe in the cockpit and found himself seriously wounded on the floor as the aircraft plunged. Despite the injuries, he fought the co-pilot off long enough to unlock the cockpit door, which let passengers and crew in. That one action is widely credited with saving the flight.

He was later treated in a hospital in Abu Dhabi, where he spoke by phone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Beyond that, little has been published about his condition or his own account of events.

The Lessons for Aviation Security

Vetting gaps. The central question is how a pilot flagged for extremism at one airline was hired by another. Israeli officials say Flydubai did not check with Oman. The industry has no shared database for this kind of concern.
The cockpit door. After 9/11, locked doors keep intruders out. They can also keep help from reaching the people inside. Here, the captain’s unlocking of the door was the turning point.
Crash axes. Most airliners carry one for emergencies. This case will likely prompt questions about where such tools are kept.
Israel’s passenger lists. A 2023 Israeli law requires foreign carriers to submit crew and passenger lists, but one report says no agency has taken responsibility for reviewing them.
Reserve pilots. Two off-duty Flydubai pilots happened to be on board and landed the plane. Without them, the outcome could have been very different.

What to Watch Next

Formal charges and an official UAE statement on motive.
Whether Australian or New Zealand investigators confirm the radical mosque reports.
Whether Flydubai’s hiring checks, and Oman Air’s decision not to alert others, face official scrutiny.
The final investigation report, including cockpit voice and flight data.

This post will be updated as more is confirmed.

Sources

News, Aviation

This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.