flydubai Co-Pilot Admits Intending to “Deliberately Crash” Plane in Israel

The co-pilot who attacked the captain aboard a flydubai passenger plane bound for Israel reportedly admitted that he intended to deliberately crash the aircraft.
On the 2nd (local time), U.S. broadcaster ABC News reported, citing multiple sources briefed on the investigation, that co-pilot Hammam Al-Hammami made statements during questioning indicating that he had tried to crash the passenger plane in Israel. Al-Hammami is reportedly a 29-year-old Omani national.
Al-Hammami was handed over from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the 1st and is being questioned by local authorities. According to ABC News, he is cooperating with the investigation and reportedly indicated during questioning that his intention had been to crash the aircraft in Israel.
UAE authorities are investigating the circumstances of the incident, the motive and whether it was planned in advance. UAE prosecutors have explained that the country has jurisdiction because the aircraft is registered in the UAE and was operated by a UAE airline.
UAE authorities subsequently classified the incident as an attempted “terrorist attack.” According to Reuters, UAE Prosecutor General Hamad Saif Al-Shamsi classified the incident, in which the co-pilot attacked the captain and tried to seize control of the aircraft, as an act of terrorism. Investigators are examining the specific motive and whether there were backers or accomplices.
Al-Hammami had earlier been accused of attacking the captain aboard a flydubai passenger plane traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv and causing the aircraft to enter a steep descent. After passengers and other crew members subdued him, the aircraft made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed after the incident that Al-Hammami had undergone “Islamic radicalization” and said, "He tried to crash the aircraft with the passengers on board."
 
[email protected] Choi Eun-sol Reporter