Omani copilot planned attack before joining airline, planned to crash plane into Ben-Gurion Airport

A copilot who attacked the captain of a flydubai flight to Israel on Wednesday planned the action before joining the airline, according to two Israeli officials cited by the Haaretz newspaper. A third source said the Omani national intended to crash the plane into Ben-Gurion Airport. The suspect, identified by two sources as Hamam al-Hammami, had flown to Tel Aviv earlier this year with the intention of hijacking an aircraft but abandoned the plan. He told interrogators he applied to flydubai after researching airlines that flew to Tel Aviv, and passengers and crew subdued him after he attacked the captain with an emergency axe. The UAE attorney general classified the case as a terrorist attack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said pilots from countries without diplomatic relations with Israel, such as Oman, cannot operate flights to the country. An Australian counterterrorism unit is also investigating the copilot's links, as a fourth source said he studied at RMIT University in Melbourne about ten years ago.