flydubai co-pilot attacked captain with cockpit crash axe in terrorist attack: UAE

According to the UAE Attorney General's statement, the co-pilot attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit's crash axe before attempting to take control of the aircraft. The flight was carrying 174 passengers when the attack took place, and passengers and crew members intervened to overpower the co-pilot.

In Short

• The co-pilot attempted to seize control of the aircraft after attacking the captain
• He was previously removed from flying duties at Oman Air over extremist concerns
• However, the motive behind this attack is unclear yet

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has called the cockpit attack aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 a 'terrorist attack', saying the Omani co-pilot used the aircraft’s crash axe to attack Indian captain Smit Machchhar and then tried to take control of the plane.

According to the UAE Attorney General's statement, the co-pilot attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit's crash axe before attempting to take control of the aircraft. The flight was carrying 174 passengers when the attack took place, and passengers and crew members intervened to overpower the co-pilot.

Meanwhile, UAE's senior diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash also described the incident as a 'dangerous terrorist act' in a post on X.

"The Indian pilot at "Flydubai," Smit Mathur, deserves every bit of appreciation, for he embodied the meaning of courage and responsibility in the face of a dangerous terrorist act and a potential disaster. His professionalism and moral sense in the darkest of circumstances make him a true hero," Gargash wrote on X.

AL-ARABIYA IDENTIFIES OMANI CO-PILOT AS HAMAM AL-HAMMAMI

The co-pilot has now been identified as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national, by Al-Arabiya, a state-owned media outlet in Saudi Arabia. Three other people familiar with the investigation, including a Gulf diplomat and a Western diplomat, also confirmed his identity to the Associated Press (AP).

The identification has brought fresh scrutiny to al-Hammami's past. The AP report suggests that Oman had previously barred him from flying over concerns that he had adopted extremist views. He was later hired by flydubai, although it remains unclear how extensively he was vetted or what information about his earlier removal from flying duties was available to the airline.

A regional officer also told AP that the Omani co-pilot, after being removed from flying duties at Oman Air, was moved to an administrative role at the airline. The same official said al-Hammami was born in the UAE and his mother is Syrian.

It has also come to light that al-Hammami had also worked with Royal Air Maroc before joining flydubai. His online footprint is now part of the probe. A social media account believed to have belonged to him was active until the day of the flight and was later deleted, AP reported.

The LinkedIn profile in the name of Hamam al-Hammami, which has since been taken down, says he worked with Oman Air for seven years before joining Royal Air Maroc in June 2025. He left the Moroccan carrier in January 2026. The profile does not mention flydubai, and India Today could not independently verify whether it belonged to the co-pilot involved in the September 30 incident.

However, the timeline broadly matches his reported stint with flydubai, with one of his colleagues telling Israel's Channel 16 that he joined the airline around eight months ago, which would place his joining date around February 2026.

The colleague described al-Hammami as 'deeply religious,' saying he prayed frequently and would not shake hands with women. The Times of Israel also reported these details. The LinkedIn profile said he studied at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK, while CNN reported that a source at the university confirmed that a man named al-Hammami completed a three-year course in aviation management there in 2023.

The profile, according to CNN, had only two posts, both published on Wednesday, the day of the flydubai incident. The posts may have been scheduled in advance. The first contained a series of video clips, including one showing the cockpit of a Boeing 737 Max and another, apparently filmed at Dubai International Airport, showing an aircraft belonging to Israeli airline El Al.

A third clip, filmed inside a cockpit, showed flight number OMA624 and the date October 11, 2023, corresponding to the period when al-Hammami was working for Oman Air. The video ended with a photograph of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the former al-Qaeda chief who plotted the September 11 attacks in the US with Osama bin Laden. Zawahiri succeeded bin Laden as the terror group's leader and was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan in 2022.

Another video associated with the profile featured a photograph of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, an al-Qaeda figure behind the 2009 suicide bombing that killed nine people, including seven US CIA officials. The second LinkedIn post featured an AI-generated image depicting Islam's three holiest sites — Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. While these details have emerged as investigators examine al-Hammami's background and possible extremist links, India Today has not independently verified that the LinkedIn profile or the material posted on it belonged to the flydubai co-pilot.

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