Investigators probing the terrifying midair assault aboard a Flydubai flight headed to Tel Aviv are increasingly leaning toward the conclusion that the co-pilot responsible for the attack was not directed by any foreign government or extremist organization, multiple U.S. officials and a former Israeli security official said.
The attack unfolded Wednesday when the co-pilot allegedly used a crash ax to assault the aircraft’s captain and attempted to seize control of the plane. The flight was carrying 174 predominantly Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the incident occurred.
Shalom Ben Hanan, a former official with Israel’s domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, described the early assessment as pointing toward lone-wolf terrorism. He said the suspect appears to have been motivated by content consumed online rather than orders from an outside group or nation-state. Ben Hanan cautioned that investigators still need to complete their work before drawing final conclusions.
NBC News identified the suspect as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani citizen, based on information from multiple sources connected to three agencies briefed on the investigation. UAE authorities have not officially released his identity.
UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi confirmed on Saturday that investigators are working to determine the full circumstances and motives behind the incident and whether any external connections exist.
A catastrophic crash was narrowly avoided when crew members and passengers forced their way into the cockpit and physically restrained the attacker. The flight’s captain, Indian national Smit Machchhar, was hospitalized in Abu Dhabi with severe injuries.
Machchhar described the harrowing ordeal in a video call released by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he was fighting for his own survival while simultaneously aware that hundreds of lives depended on him. He said he could feel the plane descending before he managed to get the cockpit door open so others could intervene.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously indicated that investigators were looking into whether the co-pilot was acting on someone else’s orders. President Donald Trump also raised the possibility of Iranian involvement and threatened military action if Tehran was found to be connected. A senior U.S. official said there is currently no evidence pointing to Iranian direction or participation in the attack.
Emirati authorities are leading the investigation with the UAE attorney general’s office emphasizing that all possible angles remain under scrutiny as the probe continues to develop.