UAE Says Flydubai Co-Pilot Planned 9/11-Style Suicide Attack on Tel Aviv Flight
The United Arab Emirates’ attorney general has revealed that the Omani co-pilot at the center of last week’s midair emergency aboard a Flydubai passenger jet had been planning a premeditated suicide attack on Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport — a plot officials said was inspired by the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Attorney General Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said on Friday that the investigation into the September 30 incident on Flydubai flight FZ1073, bound for Tel Aviv from Dubai, found the aircraft’s co-pilot had begun carrying out a terrorist plot to seize control of the plane and crash it into the airport’s passenger terminal, with the aim of causing the greatest possible loss of life.
The attack and the thwarted attempt
According to the UAE’s Public Prosecution, the 29-year-old co-pilot attacked the captain with an emergency crash axe during the flight. The plane plunged roughly 16,000 feet in 30 seconds before the attack was thwarted and the aircraft was diverted to a safe emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Investigators said the suspect had used two earlier flights to Tel Aviv to familiarize himself with the route and the airport ahead of the planned attack. A reserve Flydubai pilot ultimately landed the plane after passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot.
A plot years in the making
The attorney general said the suspect’s drift toward extremism began in 2017, while he was studying in Melbourne, Australia, where he was exposed to extremist literature and online content glorifying terrorist organizations and suicide attacks.
Inspired by the 9/11 attacks, the idea of carrying out a similar operation using a commercial aircraft became firmly fixed in his thinking, officials said — and, according to his confession, that ambition was linked to his decision to pursue a career in aviation.
The suspect worked for Oman Air between 2020 and 2024, then briefly for Royal Air Maroc in 2025, before joining Flydubai in January 2026, the prosecution said.
Earlier reporting by Reuters, citing two Israeli officials familiar with the probe, said the co-pilot told interrogators he had sought a job at Flydubai after searching specifically for airlines that fly to Tel Aviv. A third source briefed on the investigation said he had also intended to hijack a Tel Aviv flight earlier this year but changed his mind at the time. The UAE has not announced formal charges against the suspect, who is in custody, and Oman has not commented.
Why it matters
The case has rattled the global aviation industry and raised hard questions about how airline pilot screening works across borders. Direct Dubai–Tel Aviv flights began after the 2020 Abraham Accords normalized relations between the UAE and Israel, and the route has become one of the region’s busiest — making the revelation that a cockpit insider planned to turn a scheduled service into a weapon especially alarming for security officials.
The announcement marks the most detailed official account yet of the suspected plot. Investigators said they are continuing to probe whether the suspect acted alone or had accomplices, and what security checks failed to flag him before he joined Flydubai.
Based on reporting by Reuters, The National, Ynet News and WAM, the UAE state news agency.
TITLE: UAE Says Flydubai Co-Pilot Planned 9/11-Style Suicide Attack on Tel Aviv Flight
SEO TITLE (<=60): Flydubai Co-Pilot Planned Tel Aviv Suicide Attack, UAE Says
META DESCRIPTION (<=155): The UAE says a Flydubai co-pilot planned to crash flight FZ1073 into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport in a 9/11-style suicide attack before being thwarted mid-flight.
SLUG: flydubai-co-pilot-suicide-attack-tel-aviv-uae
CATEGORY: World
TAGS: flydubai, UAE, Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion Airport, terrorism plot, aviation security
FOCUS KEYWORD: flydubai co-pilot suicide attack
EXCERPT: The UAE’s attorney general says the Omani co-pilot of Flydubai flight FZ1073 planned to crash the jet into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport in a suicide attack inspired by 9/11.
