Oman had previously banned the alleged attacker from flying
The Boeing 737 MAX departed Dubai for Tel Aviv on Wednesday with 170 passengers aboard, UPI reported, and the attack occurred about two hours into the 3.5-hour flight. The co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, “began executing his plan during the flight, attacking the captain inside the flight deck using a crash ax and attempting to take control of the aircraft’s flight controls,” UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif al Shamsi said in a statement reported by NBC News.
“Investigations into the incident aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 revealed that the co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act,” al Shamsi said Saturday.
The plane made a sudden U-turn near the border with Jordan and plunged 17,000 feet in less than a minute. Machchhar, an Indian national, issued a “7500” hijacking alert — the international transponder code for a hijacking in progress — and managed to open the cockpit door despite being seriously injured. Crew and passengers, which included off-duty pilots, entered and subdued al-Hammami before the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
A crash ax is a standard piece of safety equipment carried on aircraft for emergency evacuations, Marco Chan, a former pilot, told The Washington Post. “If none of the exit doors are available, the pilot can … use the ax to crack” designated parts of the plane to create an exit, Chan said.
From his hospital bed, Machchhar said he had been “severely injured” and could sense that the aircraft was going down. “I was acting for my own life, but at the same time, I knew I couldn’t let all of them die,” Machchhar said on a video call released by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X, adding that he told himself to “give just one last push” to the cockpit door.
The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi said in a post on X: “Indian braveheart Capt. Smit remains under excellent medical care & is recovering well. We are in touch with his family & local authorities, extending support for a speedy recovery. Our thanks to UAE gov. for their care. We join well-wishers in praying for his good health.”
The crown prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, visited Machchhar in the hospital and kissed him on the head, according to photos posted by the Dubai Media Office on X and Instagram. Machchhar is “the flydubai pilot who embodied the highest degrees of courage, responsibility, and care for human life,” the crown prince said on X. “From us, and from the leadership of the nation, he has our full appreciation and praise.”
“We are proud that he is part of our team,” Mohammed said. He is “part of the story of our nation … and part of what the UAE stands for … a nation of compassion … a nation of peace … and a nation of life.”
Al-Hammami was taken from Saudi Arabia to Abu Dhabi on Thursday, the Saudi Interior Ministry said. The Wall Street Journal reported that al-Hammami had “previously been banned from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted radical ideological views” but was subsequently hired by Flydubai.
Israeli Government Spokesman David Mencer said Friday that Israeli investigators would “join their Emirati counterparts in investigating this attempted mass murder and establishing precisely what happened, his motives and background.” Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, told NBC that the alleged attacker “talks on his social media about killing Jews.”
“We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price,” Netanyahu said.
President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that if Iran was behind the attack, there would be new strikes. “You just ask them. They know what happened. They’ll be hit very hard,” Trump said.
A senior U.S. official told NBC there are no indications that Iran directed or was involved in the attack. The airline suspended flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv, but as of Friday stranded Israeli passengers were beginning to make their way home.