A Flydubai pilot planned to direct the plane to the terminal at Ben Gurion Airport

A Flydubai pilot, Omani citizen Hamam al-Hamami, planned to crash his plane into the terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. This was reported by Channel 12, citing interrogation records.

 

According to the investigation, al-Hamami had been planning the attack for several months. In June, he gathered information about the airport during one of his flights, and had previously attempted to select a route to Tel Aviv.

During questioning, the man told investigators that his dream was to “crash into Ben Gurion.”

The attack was thwarted after the captain, Smith Machhar, despite suffering serious injuries, managed to open the cockpit door. Passengers and other pilots then entered the cockpit and subdued the attacker.

According to media reports, the actions of the captain and the passengers helped prevent a potential large-scale tragedy that could have claimed hundreds of lives.

Al-Hamami had previously been suspended from flying for Oman Air, Oman’s state-owned airline, due to his radical views. However, Flydubai was not informed of this, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Following the incident on the Flydubai flight, the Israeli prime minister ordered a comprehensive security review of foreign airlines operating flights to the country.

Source: Channel 12

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