Flydubai co-pilot aimed to crash plane into Ben Gurion Airport, officials say

A Flydubai co-pilot, identified as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, 29, is accused of stabbing the plane's captain mid-flight on Sept. 30 in an attempted hijacking targeting Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. Al-Hammami reportedly used a cockpit crash axe to attack Capt. Smit Machchhar on flight FZ 1073 from Dubai, intending to crash the plane into a building or jet at the airport. He waited until the aircraft was over Jordanian airspace to act undetected, but Machchhar opened the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to subdue the suspect and land safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Machchhar, recovering in hospital, has been hailed as a hero by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the suspect was radicalized. Israeli sources say al-Hammami acted alone and had worked for Flydubai for only eight months.