An Omani FlyDubai co-pilot attempted to hijack a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on September 30 in a planned suicide attack. The United Arab Emirates' attorney general stated that the co-pilot intended to seize control of the aircraft and crash it into a passenger terminal at Israel's Ben Gurion international airport. The plan was thwarted by the flight's captain.
The incident occurred on flight 1073, which was carrying 182 people. During the struggle, the co-pilot used an axe to attack the captain. The aircraft eventually made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a descent so extreme that part of its rudder was torn away.
The attacker, identified as Hamam al-Hammami, had reportedly spent years descending into extremism and was inspired by the September 11 attacks. He had previously been barred from flying in Oman because of his extremist views. To prepare for the attack, he had flown the route to Tel Aviv two previous times to familiarize himself with the airport and the flight path.