Machchhar was seriously wounded when his 29-year-old Omani co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, attacked him with a cockpit crash axe in a plot to crash the Boeing 737 MAX 8 into Ben Gurion Airport's passenger terminal. Despite his injuries, Machchhar unlocked the cockpit door from the inside, allowing passengers and crew to restrain al-Hammami before off-duty pilots landed the aircraft in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
UAE authorities have detained two Maldivian Flydubai co-pilots who worked alongside al-Hammami, lived in the same residential building and previously flew routes to Israel, according to Maldivian media reports. UAE prosecutors said al-Hammami confessed to acting alone in a 9/11-inspired plot after becoming radicalized while studying in Melbourne in 2017, though investigators continue to examine possible accomplices.