File photo: A flydubai aircraft at Ben Gurion International Airport
The security failures culminated halfway through Flight 1073, when al-Hammami attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with an emergency axe after excusing himself to pray.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel suspect al-Hammami was trying to crash the aircraft in Tel Aviv, according to people familiar with their thinking. All three countries are investigating whether he acted alone; so far, investigators have not found links to a foreign power or major terrorist organisation, those people said. The UAE’s attorney general has described the incident as an attempted terrorist act. The incident has since prompted Israel to review the security of foreign airline flights to the country.
The lapses nearly led to an aviation disaster reminiscent of 9/11, despite authorities having reasons to be concerned about him. A string of security failures across Oman, the UAE and Israel allowed the flydubai co-pilot to get into the cockpit, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found. There was an even more basic warning that should have stopped al-Hammami from flying to Israel. Pilots from countries such as Oman, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, are barred from flying to the country. Yet al-Hammami was allowed onto the Tel Aviv-bound flight.
