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Flydubai Co-Pilot Planned Crash Into Tel Aviv Airport

6 sources · updated 2026-10-11
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0 left · 0 center · 2 right

What happened

On September 30, Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, carrying more than 170 people, most of them Israeli passengers, was diverted to Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia after the 29-year-old Omani co-pilot, identified as Hamam al-Hammami, attacked Indian captain Smit Machchhar with an emergency axe in the cockpit while the Boeing 737 was over Saudi Arabia; crew, including a reserve captain traveling for the return flight, and passengers restrained him and regained control after the aircraft lost altitude. UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi later said al-Hammami confessed to planning to seize the jet and crash it into a passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in a suicide attack inspired by the September 11, 2001 attacks, after years of extremist Islamist views, and that he had used two earlier Tel Aviv flights to study the route and airport. Al Shamsi said Flydubai’s professional and security checks had shown no indications of those views or a terrorist plot, that the suspect claimed to have acted alone, and that prosecutors were still examining possible accomplices.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 3 articles

3 of 3 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.

What these terms mean and how they're counted
On the record · names a source 3 of 3
On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, UAE investigators, UAE attorney general Hamad Saif Al Shamsi and UAE authorities
Primary evidence · cites a document or data 1 of 3
Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: official statement, confession
Credits another outlet 0 of 3
The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
Unnamed sources 0 of 3
The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
How it developed
When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Oct 10, 00:21 UTC by Breitbart, naming its source. First document in the first report, from Breitbart (official statement).
Not counted 0
Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out

Unpacked

Right-leaning coverage is more complete on how the plot was built. Left-leaning accounts, such as The Hill, stop at the UAE finding that the co-pilot meant to crash the jet into a Tel Aviv terminal. Right-leaning coverage, including Breitbart, adds that his confession tied that aim to becoming a pilot and that he chose Flydubai because it flies to Tel Aviv. The shorter version is a cockpit assault. The longer one is a career aimed at an Israeli airport. Right-leaning coverage calls the plot a "suicide attack." Left-leaning coverage says the co-pilot "intended to crash" the plane. How did the hiring checks the UAE says he passed miss a man who later said he had chosen the airline to reach Tel Aviv?
Bottom line

Read only The Hill and you hear he meant to crash into Tel Aviv. You never hear that investigators said he had already flown that route twice to study the airport.

The receipts — 3 facts one side's coverage lacks
  • His confession linked the planned attack to his decision to pursue a career in aviation. official statementin Breitbart, Daily Wire · absent from left-leaning coverage
  • He said he chose Flydubai because it flies to Tel Aviv. official statementin Breitbart · absent from left-leaning coverage
  • Investigators said he used two previous Tel Aviv flights to familiarize himself with the route and airport. numberin Breitbart, Daily Wire · absent from left-leaning coverage
The Left View
Left-leaning outlets treated the UAE attorney general’s announcement as a concise official finding: the co-pilot had been “inspired by the Sept. 11 attacks” after “years of developing extreme Islamist views,” and intended to crash the aircraft into a Tel Aviv airport passenger terminal. The New York Times and The Hill identified the suspect and restated authorities’ description of the planned seizure of the Israel-bound flight, without developing a narrative about radicalization venues, prior employers, or screening gaps.
The Right View
Right-leaning outlets cast the same announcement as a years-long, 9/11-style “suicide attack” meant to cause “the greatest possible loss of life.” Breitbart and The Daily Wire stressed that he pursued aviation and chose Flydubai because it flew to Tel Aviv, used earlier flights as reconnaissance, and trained in boxing; they traced a 2017 turn toward takfiri ideology in Melbourne and his claim that an Islamic center there had Muslim Brotherhood support, while noting investigators have not established that the center or its preacher took part in the plot. They highlighted reported earlier concerns at Oman Air, extremist online imagery, and checks that found “no indications” of his views, and The Daily Wire argued an Omani should not have been on an Israel route given the lack of normalized ties, linking the Brotherhood reference to U.S. terrorist designations and a Senate hearing panel Democrats boycotted.
Our Take (balanced)
The left’s strongest argument is that the confirmed public core is the UAE’s account of a confessed, 9/11-inspired crash plot, and that the same inquiry has not shown Melbourne contacts or any group directed or joined it. The right’s strongest argument is that that account also describes long preparation—selecting an Israel route, rehearsal flights, physical training—and reported earlier red flags that never kept him off the flight, even though hiring checks found “no indications” of extremist views. The unresolved tension is whether this is mainly a lone plot that existing screening did not detect, or a longer radicalization and information-sharing failure whose alleged organizational links remain unproven while the investigation stays open.

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