FlyDubai Co-Pilot Confessed to 9/11-Style Plot Against Ben-Gurion, UAE Says 9 Days After Flight
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 9
FlyDubai Co-Pilot Confessed to 9/11-Style Plot Against Ben-Gurion, UAE Says 9 Days After Flight
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 9
Summary
UAE prosecutors said 29-year-old FlyDubai co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami confessed he meant to seize Flight 1073 and crash it into Ben-Gurion Airport’s passenger terminal in a suicide attack.
Shamsi said Hammami had scouted the route on two earlier flights, acted alone and drew inspiration from 9/11, aiming to cause the greatest possible number of casualties.
On Sept. 30, passengers said Hammami struck the pilot with a cockpit crash ax and sent the Boeing 737 Max 8 into a nosedive before the injured captain opened the door and passengers subdued him.
Two off-duty pilots then landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia; most of the roughly 180 people aboard the Dubai-to-Israel flight were Israelis, and the captain is recovering in Abu Dhabi.
The UAE said signs of extremism dated to 2017 and were not detected during hiring checks before Hammami joined FlyDubai in January, underscoring scrutiny of airline security screening.