UAE Considers Death Penalty for Flydubai Terrorist
UAE may seek death penalty for Flydubai co-pilot accused of attempted 9/11-style attack.
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Abu Dhabi authorities are considering the death penalty for Hamam al-Hammami, the co-pilot of Flydubai Flight FZ1073, who allegedly attempted to steer the jet into a suicide dive toward Tel Aviv. According to a report by Israeli outlet Ynet, citing a top Emirati official, al-Hammami, a 29-year-old terrorist, faces the maximum legal sentence following the mid-air crisis.
International Investigation Unfolds
Mossad operatives and Israeli aviation experts have arrived in Abu Dhabi to interrogate al-Hammami, joining intelligence agents from Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the U.S. in a multi-nation probe. Investigators suspect al-Hammami was not just aiming to crash the Boeing 737 MAX 8 into the sea, but was plotting a 9/11-style Kamikaze attack on the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv.
Heroic Actions Averted Disaster
The incident unfolded in the skies when al-Hammami hacked Indian-born Captain Smit Machchhar using the cockpit’s emergency crash axe, pulling the controls into a death spiral and dropping the jet 14,000 feet in thirty seconds. Bleeding and battered, Captain Machchhar fought back, opening the reinforced cockpit door just in time for Israeli passengers to storm the cockpit. An Israeli passenger, Yaniv Hion, grabbed the controls and brought the plane out of its plunge before an off-duty pilot guided it to a miraculous emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Background and Controversies
New details about al-Hammami’s past are emerging. Oman Air barred him from flying over concerns that he had adopted extremist views, which were linked to visits to radical Islamic websites. He was reportedly moved to an administrative job at the airline. In 2025, he completed three months of pre-employment training with Royal Air Maroc but wasn’t hired.
Questions Over Hiring Practices
Al-Hammami reportedly traveled to Syria before joining Flydubai, where he had worked for less than a year. His hiring checks focused on criminal records rather than signs of radicalization. An Israeli official noted this was his first flight into Israel, raising questions about how an Omani pilot was assigned to the route, as Israel’s agreement with Flydubai bars pilots from countries without diplomatic ties. An Emirati source admitted the global pilot shortage led to rushed hiring checks, calling the oversight a “very serious failure.”
Security Measures Tighten
Israel is tightening crew screenings on all incoming foreign flights as a response to the incident.
Source: Daily Wire
