Flydubai pilot identified as UAE official says he attacked captain with cockpit’s crash ax in attempted terrorist attack

TEL AVIV — A Flydubai pilot attacked his flight captain using a crash ax and tried to take control of the aircraft’s controls in an attempted terrorist attack, an official with the United Arab Emirates said Saturday.

The suspect is Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami, multiple sources from three agencies briefed on the investigation and a diplomat in the Middle East told NBC News. Authorities have not officially released the identity.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that al-Hammami had “previously been banned from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted radical ideological views.”

Oman Air did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether he previously worked for the company.

Emirati officials are leading investigations into the midair incident, which occurred Wednesday on a flight carrying 174 mostly Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv. A crash was averted, according to eyewitnesses and Israeli officials, when crew and passengers were able to enter the cabin and subdue the attacker.

“Investigations into the incident aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 revealed that the co-pilot attempted to carry out a terrorist act,” UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said in an update on Saturday.

“The…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world