Six things to know as Flydubai pilot used ‘axe in attempted terrorist attack’

The co-pilot of an Israel-bound passenger plane stabbed his pilot with a crash axe as he attempted to carry out a terrorist attack, prosecutors have alleged. Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national, has been named as the suspect and co-pilot of the Boeing 747 flydubai jet, which had 182 people on board, most of them Israeli nationals. Passengers and crew stormed the cockpit to overpower the attacker and seize control of the plane during the apparent attempt to down a flight to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. The plane plummeted about 16,625 feet ​in just over 30 seconds while flying over Saudi Arabia ‌on its journey from the UAE to Israel, according to ​flight-tracking data from Flightradar24. Here are some of the main things we have found out about the terrifying midair incident on Flight FZ1073: The suspect is now being held in United Arab Emirates, where the prosecutor general said on Saturday that the co-pilot attacked ⁠the pilot inside the cockpit with a crash axe and tried to seize control of the plane. A crash ⁠axe is usually kept in the cockpit ‌for use during emergencies such as crashes. A terror probe has been launched after a co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain of a plane heading to Israel (Photo : X/ AmichaiStein) “Investigations into the incident involving flydubai flight FZ1073 found that the co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist attack,” Emirates News Agency WAM quoted UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi as saying. The UAE prosecutor general’s comments were the first by Emirati ‌authorities to describe the incident as an attempted terrorist attack.Lone wolf? A Gulf diplomat said investigations are underway to establish whether he acted as a “lone wolf or has any connection with any extremist groups.” Investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances of the incident, the motives and any related connections, as well as to examine physical and digital evidence, the UAE prosecutor has said, The UAE is leading the investigation. The airline ‌is owned by Dubai’s government. ‘Barred from flying by Oman’ The co-pilot was barred from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted extremist views, a person familiar with the matter told Associated Press. The co-pilot was subsequently hired by the United Arab Emirates-based airline, the person said. It was not immediately clear to what extent he was vetted when he was hired in the Emirates. Oman’s move to bar the co-pilot from flying was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.. According to ABC News, he completed a three-year distance-learning course at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK and graduated with a degree in aviation management in 2023. Hero captain: ‘I wasn’t going to let others die’ The Indian captain injured in the attack has spoken out about how he fought off the attacker and was able to unlock the cockpit door so passengers could get in. FlyDubai pilot Capt. Smit Machchhar spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi to reveal how he was able to open the cockpit door despite his injuries. (Photo: Narendra Modi YouTube Channel via AP ) In a video call, Smit Machchhar, 39, from Mumbai, told the Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi: “I was lying on the floor injured but I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside. “I was of course fighting for my own life but at the same time I knew I was not going to let others die.” Speaking from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi, Captain Machchhar added: “I had so many wounds. I had fallen down. At one point I realized that if I didn’t get up — then passengers would lose their lives.” Plumber stormed cockpit to subude attacker One of the passengers who forced his way into the cockpit to thwart the attack said their attempts to open the door were made more difficult as Machchhar had been stabbed and was on the other side. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Yaniv Hayun, a passenger on the FlyDubai flight bound for Israel from the United Arab Emirates (who helped overpower the attacker (Photo: : GPO via Reuters) Yaniv Hayoun, 50. said: “”One (pilot) was down and one was on the controls, and another ​person came in with me, I grabbed the assailant and put him in a chokehold, and pulled him out.” He and a few other people subdued the co-pilot and ‌then ⁠he returned to pull up the unmanned steering control of the plane, Hayun said. “I jumped back, grabbed the controls, and started pulling back the handles,” he added. Asked how he knew what to dol, Hayun said: “I watch Air Crash Investigation [a TV show]”. British reserve pilot took control to land plane After passengers overpowered the attacker, two reserve flydubai pilots who were on the ⁠flight took control of the aircraft and landed it 90 minutes later at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained. (Graphic: Anadolu/Getty) One of the two off-duty pilots seated at the back of the jet who helped land the plane has been identified by passengers as a British man called James. Tzvika Manes, ​an Israeli bank executive and ​one of the passengers ⁠who helped hold the co-pilot down, said they used airline earphones to tie him up. A source briefed on the investigation told Reuters on Friday that Israeli officials were expected to question the co-pilot in the UAE. The source declined to say which Israeli agency or authority would take part. An Israeli government ‌official told Reuters that Israeli investigators would take part alongside Emirati authorities in the UAE-led investigation, seeking to ​determine what happened and examine the suspect’s motives and background.