The second pilot of a Flydubai aircraft, who, according to media reports, on September 30, had attempted to hijack the aircraft, had planned to fly to Tel Aviv and crash the aircraft into Ben Gurion International Airport, Israeli media have reported.
The pilot, Omani citizen Hamam al-Hamami, told investigators that he intended to take control of the aircraft by killing or otherwise neutralizing the captain, and then continue the flight.
Al-Hamami said that this would have allowed him to reach Tel Aviv without arousing the suspicions of ground personnel and to receive permission from the airport to land in the normal manner.
He then planned to direct the aircraft and bring it down with a strike on the airport, or, if that proved impossible, to cause a crash into one of the high-rise buildings in Israel’s capital.
Al-Hamami said that he had planned such an act long ago, and that in order to carry it out he had taken a job with an airline that operates flights to Israel. He said that he had managed to fly to Tel Aviv several times with Flydubai, and that at Ben Gurion Airport he had carefully studied the building and the airport in order to plan the attack in greater detail.
According to CBS, Hamam al-Hamami had previously worked at Oman Air, from which he was dismissed in 2024 because of his extremist views. Eight months ago he joined Flydubai, and the company’s internal security department most likely did not thoroughly check his background before hiring him.
Al-Hamami is currently under arrest in the United Arab Emirates. He is being questioned by investigators from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, who are exchanging information with their Israeli counterparts.
