Reports

UAE Investigation Reveals Motive Behind Attempted Attack on Flydubai Flight

Published

6 hours ago

October 10, 2026

Shorya

The UAE Public Prosecution has identified the September 30, 2026 emergency on board the Flydubai Flight 1073 as a terrorist attack after investigating the matter. First Officer Hamam al-Hammami admitted that he was in charge of the bomb plot against Ben Gurion International Airport, investigators said.

UAE Attorney-General announces updates on investigation into the Flydubai flight FZ1073 incident#WamNews https://t.co/Z79IJWnSQy pic.twitter.com/XSesDBTgpF
— WAM English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) October 9, 2026

Radicalization and Flight Preparation

Al-Hammami said he began to become radicalized in 2017 when he was studying at RMIT University in Melbourne. It is said that he subscribed to extremist and takfiri tenets. He then went on to pursue his training to become a commercial pilot for the plot, authorities said.

Crew Intervention Prevented Disaster

Al-Hammami inflicted serious injuries on Captain Smit Machchhar before making the plane fall, investigators said. Flight 1073 had to slow down, dive and fall to over 14000 feet in about 30 seconds and suffered structural damage.

The suspects were restrained in conjunction with passengers as crew members, the aircraft crash was stabilized by the off-duty pilots before landing at Tabuk Regional Airport.

Investigation Found Outs

Prosecution of the case is ongoing into potential foreign help or partners, with probe into digital evidence and financial flows continuing, the UAE Public Prosecution stated. The suspect said he was acting on his own and cross-border intelligence agencies left police to tackle the case on their own. Accomplices have yet to be called into question by officials.