The Flydubai pilot accused of attempting to hijack a passenger jet had allegedly “dreamed” of crashing it into Tel Aviv’s main airport, potentially causing mass casualties, according to sources.
Hamam al-Hammami, 29, reportedly attacked captain Smit Machchhar with the aircraft’s emergency crash axe as he tried to seize control of the flight bound for Israel on Wednesday.
Passengers and crew members intervened and managed to overpower al-Hammami, helping restore control of the plane after it plunged 14,000 feet in only 29 seconds during the chaotic episode.
Israeli sources claim al-Hammami told interrogators that he had been planning the hijacking before Flydubai accepted him as a pilot. He had allegedly applied to several other airlines in an effort to secure a flying position.
“The dream was to crash into Ben-Gurion Airport,” a source told The Jerusalem Post, according to reports.
Authorities are investigating whether al-Hammami acted alone. He is said to have visited Ben-Gurion Airport several times before the alleged attack, including most recently in July, when sources claim he was gathering information.
He reportedly planned to act that month but abandoned the attempt after discovering that a crew member with whom he was friendly was on the flight.
Investigators also believe he had considered deliberately crashing the aircraft into a high-rise near Israel’s military headquarters.
Sources claim Hamam al-Hammami, the suspected Flydubai hijacker, had “dreamed” of crashing the aircraft into Tel Aviv’s main airport and causing mass casualties
Al-Hammami allegedly spoke of crashing the plane into Ben-Gurion Airport
He is also said to have considered flying into one of the Azrieli Towers, near the Kirya military headquarters in central Tel Aviv
The Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported that Israeli intelligence believes al-Hammami intended to kill Machchhar inside the secured cockpit before continuing toward Tel Aviv without immediately raising suspicion.
As the aircraft approached its destination, he allegedly planned to steer it into one of the Azrieli Towers, located near the Kirya, Israel’s military complex in central Tel Aviv.
The alleged plan would have echoed the 9/11 attacks in the United States, when Al Qaeda hijackers flew aircraft into New York’s Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.
Sources say al-Hammami began the alleged assault while the aircraft was over Jordan, roughly 10 minutes from the Israeli border, leaving the Israel Defense Forces little time to scramble fighter jets.
The claims emerged as reports also shed light on al-Hammami’s alleged extremist views, including social media posts in which he said women should be “stomped on” during religiously themed rants.
While studying at Buckinghamshire New University, where he completed a three-year distance-learning aviation degree in 2023, al-Hammami appeared to promote violence against women in a series of posts. He reportedly praised the idea of giving women a “pre-emptive slap.”
He also appeared to express support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The now-deleted account “Pilot Hamam al-Hammami,” which was linked to the co-pilot, appeared to endorse severe penalties justified by interpretations of Islamic law.
In one exchange, the account’s user reportedly wrote to a woman: “I’d stomp on your head, wipe the floor with you, make you an example to others, and then divorce you.”
Another post, made during a discussion about a man striking a woman, said: ‘He gave her a pre-emptive slap so she would redefine her boundaries, just as Russia slapped Ukraine to adjust its borders.’
Al-Hammami worked with Oman’s national airline as a trainee in 2024, but was removed from flying because of concerns that he may have been influenced by radical groups from time spent in Syria, according to officials. He was then moved to an administrative job at Oman Air.
Two other posts were reportedly made to a LinkedIn page strongly matching al-Hammami’s identity last Wednesday, just nine hours after the attack.
The first post reportedly featured a series of clips filmed in the cockpits of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft. One clip, geolocated to Dubai International Airport, zoomed in on the plane that belongs to the Israeli airline El Al.
Al-Hammami is said to have revealed during interrogation that he planned to kill Captain Smit Machchhar (pictured) before flying on to Tel Aviv undetected and crashing the aircraft
The co-pilot (pictured) used the cockpit’s crash axe in his attempt to take control of the Flydubai plane
The cockpit screen showed the flight number – OMA624 – and the date, October 11, 2023, which matches the time when Al Hammami worked at Oman Air. The flight number corresponds to a flight that usually travels from Dubai to Muscat.
Other clips showed more planes from El Al, and one from another Israeli airline, Arkia.
It ends with a photo of Ayman al-Zawahiri, who led Al Qaeda after Osama Bin Laden’s death, and a photo of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who killed nine people in a 2009 suicide bombing.
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The second post on the profile shows an AI-generated image of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem – Islam’s three holiest sites – linked by a glowing trail. In the background, a poem is being recited, speaking of rejecting humiliation, not fearing death and defending one’s dignity.
On the day of the attack, BNU said its licence to sponsor international students had been suspended by the Home Office over fears regarding its compliance with sponsorship duties.
It said ‘many of the issues raised by the Home Office relate to historic international student recruitment activity’.
The Home Office said the suspension had been unrelated to al-Hammami or the Flydubai attack.
Al-Hammami is accused of attacking the plane’s Indian pilot in what the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general described as an attempted terrorist attack.
An Israeli official told The Times Of Israel on Thursday: ‘His social media accounts [say] clearly that he has been radicalised into jihadist ideology. He talks about killing Jews.’
The LinkedIn account linked to al-Hammami, which has now been deleted, showed he worked at Oman Air for seven years, leaving in February 2025, and joined Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 before departing in January 2026. It made no mention of Flydubai.
It was not immediately clear to what extent the co-pilot was vetted when he was hired by the UAE-based airline.
However, it was confirmed by a Gulf diplomat that he had undergone standard security checks before being hired – but it appears these checks focused on whether he had been convicted on criminal charges and didn’t go deeper into examining his background for signs of radicalisation.
The passengers who survived the hijacking finally landed safely at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, having diverted to Saudi Arabia
Royal Air Maroc confirmed that Al-Hammami had completed three months of training with the airline in 2025, but his application to work there afterwards was rejected.
The UAE, which is leading the investigation, is now working to establish whether he acted as a ‘lone wolf or has any connection with any extremist groups’.
Al-Hammami was born in the UAE and his mother is Syrian. He obtained Omani nationality from his father.
He graduated from his three-year distance-learning course at Buckinghamshire New University with a degree in aviation management in 2023. The university said he did not take any pilot training at the school.
According to the university’s website, its aviation management courses ‘look into the background operations, logistics, security and management of the aviation industry’.
It is understood he also studied engineering at a university in Australia.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the suspect had undergone ‘Islamist radical indoctrination’.
In a post on X, UAE senior adviser Anwar Gargash branded the attack ‘a dangerous terrorist act’.
Video footage taken on board the flight captured the terrifying screams and cries of passengers onboard Flight FZ1073 that plunged into an erratic descent.
The flight, carrying 182 people from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was diverted to Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing.
It transmitted a general emergency signal using a squawk code – four-digit numbers used for in-flight communication – of 7700 while making a U-turn over the border between the two countries.
While flying over Saudi Arabia, it briefly issued a code of 7500, signalling unlawful interference or a hijacking.
Officials feared the incident could have become another ‘September 11’ attack, adding that passengers had prevented an ‘Israeli 9/11’ by tying up the assailant.
Passengers and crew, including the captain Mr Machchhar, have been hailed for their bravery and helped save the lives of the 174 passengers on board.
Al-Hammami, who was transferred on Thursday from Saudi Arabia to the UAE, is understood to be ‘co-operating’.
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