UAE investigators say flydubai co-pilot was planning 'terrorist act'

The UAE's attorney general has stated that the co-pilot aboard a flydubai flight bound for Israel allegedly planned to carry out a "terrorist act" and attacked the captain with the aircraft's emergency axe, according to the official UAE news agency WAM. The investigation's initial findings indicate the co-pilot intended to seize control of the plane.

The individual in question, identified as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, had previously been barred from flying in Oman due to concerns over his extremist views, multiple media outlets reported. Omani authorities determined that al-Hammami held extremist views and had spent time in Syria, raising suspicions he may have been influenced by radical groups there.

Investigations into al-Hammami's motives and activities have been intensified following Wednesday's incident aboard the Dubai-Tel Aviv route that officials claim narrowly avoided catastrophe. During the incident, the Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door, enabling passengers and crew to overpower the attacker, leading to an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.