The United Arab Emirates Attorney-General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi announced on Friday that the Omani flydubai pilot who attempted to hijack flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30 planned to commit a suicide attack with the aircraft, targeting a Ben-Gurion Airport passenger terminal, Emirati state news agency WAM reported.
According to Shamsi, the attack was premeditated, with the pilot, 29-year-old Hamam al-Hammami, having begun his shift toward extremism in 2017 while studying in Australia.
Shamsi added that Hammami intended to cause the highest number of casualties possible in his attack, for which he drew inspiration from the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Hammami confessed that the idea of committing such an act was part of what drove him to pursue an aviation career in the first place, Shamsi said, noting that Hammami claims to have acted alone in both his planning and execution.
Shamsi's statement noted Hammami's aviation career history, with the Omani national having worked for four years at Oman Air before a short-lived position with Moroccan carrier Royal Air Maroc in 2025, and joining flydubai in January.
UAE: Hammami met flydubai professional, security requirements
UAE investigators determined that Hammami met both the professional and security requirements to join flydubai at the time he was hired, and the airline was unaware of his intentions or extremism.
The UAE attorney-general further discussed the midair response to the attempted hijacking, during which Hammami attacked flydubai Capt. Smit Machchhar with a cockpit crash axe.
Citing testimony from the flight's passengers and crew, Shamsi said a flydubai captain, who was onboard to operate the return flight from Tel Aviv to Dubai, entered the cockpit using the security code after seeing the door open and close repeatedly.
The return flight's captain then confronted the attacking co-pilot, with several passengers and one crew member assisting him, and eventually diverted the flight to a safe landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
The investigation is ongoing, and Shamsi said the UAE Public Prosecution will announce any new findings.