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The co-pilot who attempted to take control of a Flydubai plane travelling to Israel attacked the pilot with a crash axe, the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general has said.<\/b><\/p>\n
The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv carrying more than 170 people plunged 17,000ft (5,200m) two and a half hours into its journey, before passengers managed to overpower the attacker and successfully take control of the plane.<\/p>\n
Capt Smit Machchhar said he was lying on the floor injured<\/a> when he realised the plane was sinking and he had to act, explaining: “I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside”, which allowed the passengers in.<\/p>\n Two reserve pilots then landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n A crash axe is usually kept \u200bin the cockpit in case of emergencies.<\/p>\n The weapon used has been a key question for investigators, given the stringent security on such a sensitive route. Early reports from passengers on board had suggested it might have been a knife.<\/p>\n The UAE attorney general told state media that investigations were ongoing to determine the full circumstances and motives of the incident.<\/p>\n The co-pilot who launched the attack was an Omani national, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/a> <\/p>\n Multiple media outlets including Reuters, CNN and The New York Times have named him as Hamam al-Hammami. There has been no official confirmation of this.<\/p>\n While working at another airline, Oman Air, US media reported that Al-Hammami was removed from flight training because of concerns over his radical views, and was given another role at Oman’s national airline.<\/p>\n He completed a three-year distance-learning course at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK and graduated with a degree in aviation management in 2023, the university said. It added he did not take any pilot training at the school.<\/p>\n Speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu said that after the attacker was subdued on the flight, he called out to the crew “Kill me, kill me!”<\/p>\n The Israeli prime minister added: “So, it’s clear that he was suicidal\u2026 It looks very likely that he was going to down the plane.”<\/p>\n He also said the attacker “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination”.<\/p>\n The UAE has begun investigating whether the “incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose”, according to the country’s state news agency.<\/p>\n