The pilots knew suspect Hamam al-Hammami, worked alongside him and lived in the same residential building, the reports said. Both had previously flown Flydubai routes to Israel. Neither has been publicly confirmed to have participated in the plot or been charged.
The UAE attorney general said al-Hammami, an Omani national, planned to seize the Dubai to Tel Aviv flight and crash it into Ben Gurion Airport’s passenger terminal. Prosecutors said he confessed to acting alone, but investigators continue to examine possible accomplices or links. He attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit’s emergency axe before passengers and crew subdued him. Additional pilots aboard landed the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.