Before joining flydubai, the Omani co‑pilot had been barred from flying in Oman because of extremist views.
Prosecutors said the co‑pilot’s plan was directly inspired by the Al‑Qaeda attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and that he aimed to cause the greatest possible loss of life by crashing the aircraft into Tel Aviv’s international airport.
💥UAE Attorney General confirms #Flydubai's Omani co-pilot confessed to terror plot inspired by 9/11 attacks, and attempted a 9/11 suicide attack on Tel Aviv. https://t.co/FXcGsw0Oha
Despite his extremist background, the individual satisfied every professional and security requirement set by flydubai for employment as a co‑pilot.
The rapid loss of altitude alarmed passengers, who reacted by rushing toward the cockpit.
On September 30, 2026, during a flight bound for Tel Aviv, the co‑pilot attacked the Indian‑born captain with an axe.
The #UAE says the #flydubai co-pilot had planned the cockpit attack that forced the #Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight to divert to #SaudiArabia on September 30. Here are the details. #Forbes For More Details: https://t.co/2avoORBFas https://t.co/a5kt8TgQkj
Following the axe blow, the jet abruptly descended approximately 5,000 metres. The rapid loss of altitude alarmed passengers, who reacted by rushing toward the cockpit.
Inside the cockpit, passengers and crew members managed to overpower the co‑pilot, wresting the axe away and restraining him. The aircraft subsequently made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu says preliminary information indicates the Omani copilot accused of trying to crash Flydubai Flight FZ1073 to Tel Aviv had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination. European authorities have separately documented antisemitic incitement involving Muslim Brotherhood figures and associates. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency recorded influential preacher Yusuf al Qaradawi’s justification of Hitler’s persecution of Jews and calls for their annihilation. Britain’s 2015 government review found that individuals closely associated with the Brotherhood had supported Hamas suicide bombings and other attacks in Israel. Those findings document a history of incitement. They do not establish a Brotherhood role in the flight attack, and Netanyahu’s statement did not identify such a connection.
Investigators noted that the majority of the passengers aboard the flydubai flight were Israeli nationals.
On October 9, 2026, Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented the Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism to six Israelis who had participated in subduing the attacker. In his remarks, Herzog said, “The civilian bravery and resourcefulness demonstrated by the heroes present here cannot overshadow the obligation to obtain full answers. Everyone, all of us, deserves clear and satisfactory answers.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the passengers’ and pilot’s bravery and ordered a thorough review of security procedures for foreign civil aviation entering Israel.