Flydubai co-pilot allegedly targeted Ben Gurion terminal. How did he clear checks?

The intended destination was far more terrible, UAE prosecutors now allege: a suicide crash into Ben Gurion Airport’s passenger terminal, designed to cause the greatest possible loss of life. Their October 9, 2026 announcement identifies a specific target and alleged preparations for the September 30 attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073. The aircraft never reached that alleged target.⁠19

The distinction matters. The cockpit assault, intervention and diversion have a substantial public reporting record. The claimed terminal plot, motive and confession come from the prosecution investigation, not a criminal judgment. No public formal charges, indictment, trial date or verdict had been verified through October 13.

On September 30, HeyDay News reported the safe landing at Tabuk while crash-attempt allegations remained unproven. On October 2, we reported the preliminary finding that the co-pilot assaulted Machchhar, both injured pilots’ transfer to the UAE and the captain’s reported recovery. What changed afterward was the investigation’s account: an October 3 announcement classified the attack as an attempted terrorist act; the October 9 update added the passenger-terminal target, alleged preparations and reported confession. These are successive announcements about one flight, not new emergencies.⁠269⁠19

The accused is a 29-year-old Omani co-pilot identified in reporting as Hamam al-Hammami, also written Hammam al-Hammami. An authoritative public legal-name spelling has not been established; the recovered official statements identify him by role and nationality. Machchhar, the Indian captain he attacked, is not the accused. FZ1073 was a Boeing 737 MAX 8, registration A6-FKF, flying from Dubai to Ben Gurion near Tel Aviv.⁠10⁠19⁠216

Prosecutors say the suspect used two earlier Dubai–Tel Aviv flights to familiarise himself with the route and airport, then attempted the plot on the third. They allege inspiration from the September 11 attacks and describe viewing terrorism-promoting material and taking boxing lessons as preparation, without explaining how each activity contributed. They say he confessed with his lawyer present and claimed to have acted alone. Investigators are still checking for assistance or facilitation: a reported lone-actor confession is not a completed finding that nobody helped.⁠19

The attack occurred in Saudi airspace. The prosecution identifies the cockpit crash axe as the weapon used to wound Machchhar and attempt to seize the controls. Passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot after the captain opened the door; other pilots travelling aboard helped secure and land the aircraft. The public accounts do not establish who made every control input. Earlier descriptions of a stabbing do not establish that an additional weapon was found.⁠19⁠7⁠234

The altitude loss was severe, but precision requires separating measurements. Reuters’ October 9 account described nearly 5,000 metres in 30 seconds. Flightradar24 identifies a specific interval, 05:22:07–05:22:36 UTC, in which altitude fell from 30,875 to 16,750 feet: 14,125 feet in 29 seconds, approximately 4,305 metres. These are not identical figures and should not become one exact measurement. Tracking observations are also not a completed flight-recorder analysis of the descent or control sequence.⁠1⁠223

Saudi authorities give the landing time as 09:45 local on September 30 at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk. They say all passengers continued their journey aboard a replacement Flydubai aircraft at 17:40 that afternoon. Other flight crew returned to Dubai separately, except the captain and first officer, who were receiving hospital treatment. Onward travel happened; it was not merely promised.⁠275

Even the number aboard remains unreconciled. The Saudi account gives 174 passengers and eight crew members. Flydubai chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith’s October 2 statement instead described “all 172 passengers and crew on board” as safe. No final public manifest resolves that difference. All passengers were reported accounted for and safe, with no passenger deaths or injuries established in the reporting reviewed. Both pilots were injured, so passenger safety does not mean nobody was hurt.⁠275⁠110

Both pilots received medical clearance and transferred to Abu Dhabi with an Emirati security team on October 1. Machchhar suffered serious head injuries, including a reported depressed skull fracture, and received emergency surgery in Tabuk. India’s October 8 update described him as recovering well after surgery in Abu Dhabi and responding positively. There is no established operation count, complete injury inventory or recovery deadline, and improvement is not discharge or fitness to fly.⁠271⁠286⁠185

On October 8, President Isaac Herzog presented civilian heroism awards to six Israeli passengers: Tali Manes, Zvika Manes, Yaniv Hayoun, Dr. Shota Musayev, Asaf Rajuan and Or Pardilov. Machchhar is also to receive the award after recovery; his presentation remains pending.⁠301⁠306

The security question is not simply whether Flydubai checked the co-pilot. Prosecutors say it did: he held a pilot’s licence, supplied a good-conduct certificate and completed the required professional and security checks when recruited in January 2026. Their wording is narrower than a claim that no warning signs ever existed.⁠19

That statement concerns what recruitment procedures disclosed. It does not erase the same investigation’s retrospective allegation that signs of extremism appeared in Australia in 2017. Nor does it resolve reports that Oman Air previously removed him from flying or training over extremist-material concerns and moved him into administrative duties. The restrictions, notification record and information Flydubai received have not been publicly established. An earlier warning and a failure to share it are separate propositions; neither can be proved merely by a clean hiring check.⁠19⁠53⁠294

The employment history itself needs correction. Prosecutors place him at Oman Air from 2020 to 2024, then working for Royal Air Maroc for several months in early 2025. Royal Air Maroc says he completed three months of theoretical training during recruitment in 2025 but was not hired. That contradicts an unqualified employment claim. Other reported profile dates remain unreconciled; theoretical training does not establish commercial flying for the airline.⁠19⁠292

RMIT confirmed engineering enrolment and that al-Hammami did not complete an engineering qualification. Other institutional accounts establish New Zealand flight-training study and a 2023 distance-learning aviation-management graduation from Buckinghamshire New University. These are education records, not confirmation of radicalisation. Australian counterterrorism authorities are investigating his connections; an inquiry is not a completed Australian finding about where extremism began.⁠331⁠295⁠3

The UAE account alleges extremist literature and online material glorifying terrorism and suicide attacks, visits to an RMIT-associated mosque, and acquaintance with people associated with MyCentre in Broadmeadows. It does not establish that RMIT operated that mosque or that the suspect attended MyCentre. Neither the centre nor its leader, Samir Mohtadi, also known as Abu Hamza, is accused of wrongdoing in the supplied account.⁠19⁠2

Mohtadi rejected the association on October 12: “I have never met al-Hammami, who has been referred to in recent media reports, and we have no record of him ever attending our centre.” That denial matters, though it does not independently settle acquaintance with other associated individuals. Prosecutors have not named those people or explained the contacts. Guilt by association is no substitute for that missing evidence.⁠48⁠49⁠19

Political scrutiny has also reached the centre’s community-language grant: an initial A$36,960 approved in March 2024, later increased by A$31,176.20 to A$68,136.20, with the term extended to December 2028. The award value is not verified disbursement or misuse. No established evidence connects the language funding to the cockpit attack.⁠137⁠64

Flydubai’s Tel Aviv suspension has meanwhile been reported extended through October 31, superseding an earlier endpoint around October 14. No resumption is verified, and month-end is not a guaranteed restart. The immediate emergency ended safely. The unanswered security question remains how alleged earlier concerns failed to stop the suspect reaching a working cockpit—and which institution knew enough to act.⁠323