The co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 attempted to carry out a “terrorist attack” on Wednesday during a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel, the United Arab Emirates’ Attorney General said today, according to the country’s state news agency WAM.
According to a source familiar with the case, the co-pilot has been identified as Hamam al-Hamami, an Omani national. UAE authorities have not yet responded to a request to confirm his identity.
The co-pilot attacked the captain inside the cockpit with an emergency axe and attempted to take control of the aircraft, the Attorney General added.
An axe is typically kept in the cockpit for use in emergency situations, such as a crash.
Investigations are underway to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident, the co-pilot’s motives and any possible connections, as well as to examine physical and digital evidence.
The statements by UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi are the first by the country’s authorities to characterise the incident aboard the flydubai flight as a “terrorist attack”.
A spokesperson for the Emirati airline said the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation, adding that the company was unable to comment further.
On Wednesday, passengers and crew members managed to restrain the flydubai co-pilot after he attacked the captain.
Israeli officials have said it appeared the co-pilot intended to cause the aircraft to crash. The flight was carrying more than 170 passengers—most of them Israelis—as well as crew members.
A reserve flydubai pilot who was travelling on the flight took control of the aircraft and landed it at Tabuk Airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was arrested.
An Israeli government official told Reuters that Israeli investigators would participate in the UAE-led investigation to establish exactly what happened during the flight and examine the co-pilot’s motives and background.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel was examining whether the co-pilot had acted on instructions from third parties, warning that anyone involved would pay a “heavy price”.
On Thursday, Netanyahu said the co-pilot—whom he identified as an Omani national—had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination and displayed suicidal tendencies, although he acknowledged that the motive behind the incident had not yet been established.
Source: ANA
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