New Delhi: The flydubai co-pilot, who has now been arrested for allegedly trying to hijack a plane flying to Israel’s Tel Aviv, has said that he planned
to crash the flight into Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport. The Omani national, who is now in UAE custody, reportedly told investigators that he planned to kill the flight’s captain, Smit Machchhar and then continue flying normally.
The Omani national, identified as Hamam al-Hammami, told investigators that he wanted to get all necessary landing clearances and did not want to raise any suspicion and there planned to continue the flight normally, after killing the Captain. He then planned to crash the plane either in a building in the Israeli city or hit another aircraft, just like the 9/11 attacks.
The flight he was handling from Dubai to Tel Aviv was Flight 1073.
According to Israeli media reports, Hamam al-Hammami told investigators that he attacked Machchhar when the plane was somewhere above Jordan. This was to take his plan into motion, as the plane approached Israel.
He claimed that he waited till almost the last moment as Hammami thought that by doing so, he would not give anyone any time to react or do anything to intervene in the matter. He said that had his plan to hit the airport or another aircraft failed, he would have crashed the aircraft in a skyscraper in Tel Aviv or some US military base in Jordan.
However, his plan failed miserably. This after the Indian pilot, Machchhar despite being injured fought back and opened the cockpit door. The pilot then sought help from the crew and other passengers and managed to restrain Hammami. Then some other pilots, who were travelling as passengers on the flight, took control of the aircraft and successfully landed the plane in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, Captain Smit Machchhar while describing the incident to Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said that al-Hammami told him that he was getting up to pray. Then moments later he struck him with an axe. Initially Captain Machchhar thought that it was the plane that was hit, but when the blows kept coming, he realised that “it was the other guy in the cockpit with him”.
Hamam al-Hammami initially planned attack in July: Investigators
According to investigators, Hamam al-Hammami had earlier planned the entire operation in July itself. However, he delayed his plan as one of the crew members was his friend.
Sources said that the pilot had flown multiple times to the Ben Gurion Airport in recent months. He reportedly told investigators that during his recent trips to Israel, he gathered intelligence and planned the attack.
He claimed that he planned the attack even before joining flydubai. He said that he in fact joined the airlines, only because it flew to Tel Aviv.
