Flydubai co-pilot tried to carry out ‘terrorist act’, attacked captain with cockpit axe, UAE says
DUBAI, Oct 3 — The UAE’s attorney general said the co-pilot of a flydubai flight to Israel had planned a &ld...
The co-pilot of a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv attempted to carry out a terrorist act, according to the UAE's attorney general. The co-pilot, identified as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, used a cockpit emergency axe to attack the captain and tried to take control of the aircraft.
The flight, carrying more than 170 people, plunged over 17,000ft two and a half hours into its journey. The captain, Smit Machchhar, was injured and lying on the cockpit floor when he realised the plane was sinking and managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to overpower the attacker.
The UAE attorney general's office stated that investigations are ongoing to determine the full circumstances and motives of the incident. According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the attacker was suicidal and had undergone Islamist radical indoctrination. The co-pilot had previously been barred from flying in Oman over concerns about his extremist views, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Brief written by urgent.news from Malay Mail, BBC World, Dawn, Jerusalem Post, The Korea Times — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
