An Omani national named Hamam al-Hammami, who was a flydubai co-pilot, allegedly attacked his captain mid-flight over Jordan on Wednesday and planned to crash the plane carrying 174 passengers into Ben Gurion airport in Israel. Israeli media reports indicate that if reaching Ben Gurion wasn't possible, he intended to target a US military base in Jordan instead. Al-Hammami was detained after other crew members intervened and forced him from the cockpit; a reserve pilot landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia before transferring al-Hammami to the UAE for interrogation. Australian authorities are investigating potential links between al-Hammami and Australia, including his student visa history there between 2015 and 2017.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On September 30, 2026, a Flydubai flight (flight FZ1073) from Dubai to Tel Aviv signaled an emergency while over Jordanian airspace and was subsequently diverted to land in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The initial distress call raised concerns of potential hijacking, prompting Israel to scramble fighter jets as a precautionary measure. However, it later emerged that the emergency signal resulted from a physical altercation between the plane's two pilots rather than any form of unlawful interference. The flight, carrying around 150 people predominantly Israeli citizens, landed safely without further incident. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations over the event as security officials confirmed the situation was under control and would become clearer upon landing in Saudi Arabia.
Written for “Israel Bound Flight Diverted” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 299 other(s) covering the same event.
In short:
A pilot who allegedly stabbed a colleague in a flight over the Middle East has reportedly revealed his plans to investigators.
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who → stab → investigators
The flydubai pilot allegedly attempted to crash a commercial plane carrying 174 passengers on Wednesday.
What's next?
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What → attempt → Wednesday
The pilot is being interrogated in the United Arab Emirates, Israeli news outlets report.
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outlets → interrogate → Emirates
A flydubai pilot who allegedly attacked a colleague in the cockpit on a flight to Israel planned to crash into the Ben Gurion airport, Israeli media outlets have reported.
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outlets → attack → airport
Israeli news site Ynet, citing officials, reported that the pilot intended to continue flying normally before crashing into the main airport in Israel.
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pilot → cite → Israel
This is why the pilot allegedly waited until the plane was in Jordanian airspace to stab his captain, according to reports cited in The Times of Israel.
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plane → wait → Israel
If he could not reach Israel, his plan was to crash into the US military base in Jordan, Channel 12 reported.
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Channel → reach → Jordan
Pilot planned attack for months, Israeli media reports
Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, who attempted to hijack the plane carrying 174 passengers, is being interrogated in the United Arab Emirates, the Times of Israel reported.
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Times → plan → Israel
He was previously suspended from flying by Oman Air after being identified as a security risk, according to US reports.
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He → suspend → reports
Investigators told the outlet the pilot had planned to carry out the attack in July but did not follow through after forming a personal relationship with one of the crew members.
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pilot → tell → members
The commercial flight, which was bound for Tel Aviv from Dubai on Wednesday, was labelled a terrorist attack by the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general over the weekend.
Mr Al-Hammami's plan to crash the plane was thwarted by the actions of Israeli passengers, as well as the struggle put up by Indian captain Smit Machchhar.
The jet plunged nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 metres) in less than 30 seconds in the incident.
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jet → bind → incident
A reserve flydubai pilot travelling on the flight took control of the aircraft and landed it at Tabuk airport in north-western Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained by Saudi authorities and later transferred to the UAE on Thursday.
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pilot → travel → Thursday
AFP confirms investigation of flydubai co-pilot's Australian links
A counterterrorism team is investigating Australian links to Mr Al-Hammami.
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team → confirm → Hammami
The investigation is being conducted by the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, comprising the AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO, an AFP spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → conduct → AFP
An AFP spokesperson said an update would be provided "at an appropriate time".
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update → say → time
Sources close to the incident have confirmed the pilot was issued a student visa in 2014 and studied in Australia between 2015 and 2017, whereafter he left the country.
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he → confirm → country
His visa was cancelled in 2019.
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visa → cancel → 2019
The ABC understands his visa was not cancelled on character grounds, but due to his lack of enrolment in a course, rendering him ineligible for a student visa.
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him → understand → visa
The ABC understands the Joint Counter Terrorism Team investigation will examine whether the man was radicalised while in Australia.
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man → understand → Australia
Netanyahu orders review into aviation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination and was clearly suicidal, although he has not said when or where that indoctrination allegedly occurred.
There are questions over major security lapses and Israel's vetting of foreign airline crews after the pilot was barred from flying by his own country because of concerns about his extremist views.
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pilot → order → views
It also remains unclear how a citizen of Oman, an Arab country that has no diplomatic relations with Israel, was allowed to fly a planeload of Israelis to Tel Aviv.
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that → remain → Aviv
On Sunday he instructed the National Security Council to appoint an examiner to "conduct a thorough review of all security aspects regarding foreign civil aviation to Israel".
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he → instruct → Israel
Israel does not have official diplomatic relations with Oman, and Mr Netanyahu has also said pilots from such countries were not permitted to operate flights to Israel.
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pilots → have → Israel
It is not clear how the co-pilot came to be assigned to the flight to Tel Aviv.
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pilot → come → Aviv
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