UAE says flydubai co-pilot planned 9/11-inspired suicide attack on Ben Gurion Airport and had flown Tel Aviv route twice to prepare
The 29-year-old Omani co-pilot accused of trying to seize control of a flydubai passenger jet had planned a suicide attack on the passenger terminal at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and had flown the Tel Aviv route twice beforehand to study the route and airport, UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said Friday. Prosecutors said the suspect intended to take control of Flight FZ1073 on September 30 and crash the aircraft into the terminal to cause the maximum possible loss of life, in a plot inspired by the September 11 attacks in the United States.
Al Shamsi said investigators found that signs of the suspect’s drift toward extremism first emerged in 2017 while he was studying engineering in Australia. He later decided to pursue aviation and, according to prosecutors, ultimately developed the plan to use an aircraft as a weapon.
The suspect worked for Oman Air from 2020 until 2024, joined Royal Air Maroc in early 2025 and remained there for several months before joining flydubai in January 2026, Al Shamsi said. UAE authorities said he had flown the Dubai-Tel Aviv route twice before September 30 to familiarize himself with the flight path and Ben Gurion Airport.
During the September 30 flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, prosecutors say the co-pilot attacked the captain with the cockpit’s emergency axe and attempted to seize control of the Boeing 737. The aircraft plunged about 16,000 feet in roughly 30 seconds during the struggle before the injured captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing crew members and passengers to overpower the co-pilot. Reserve pilots subsequently landed the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
UAE prosecutors say the suspect has told investigators he planned and carried out the attack alone, although authorities are continuing to examine whether he had accomplices or links to extremist organizations. Investigators are also scrutinizing his employment history and how he passed airline security and recruitment procedures.
The incident has triggered wider scrutiny of aviation security because reports following the attempted hijacking indicated that the co-pilot had previously been removed from flying duties at Oman Air over concerns about extremist views. The September 30 flight was carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, many of them Israelis, when the attempted takeover occurred.
