US officials: Flydubai co-pilot may have acted alone — NBC News
In the investigation being conducted by the UAE authorities, US officials briefed on the case believe that the Flydubai co-pilot who attacked the captain of a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv likely acted alone. NBC News reports, citing several US officials and a former Israeli security service official.
Preliminary assessment of the investigation
US officials stressed that the investigation into the attack in the air is at an early stage. Shalom Ben Hanan, a former official with Israel's internal security service, said the current assessment indicates that the attacker acted alone and may have been influenced by materials from the internet. At the same time, he noted that the final results of the investigation must determine whether the attacker was connected to an organization or a foreign state.
The United Arab Emirates authorities conducting the investigation said that the co-pilot attacked the captain with an emergency axe and attempted to take control of the aircraft's control systems. Emirati authorities classified the incident as an attempted terrorist attack.
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Passengers and crew stopped the attacker
There were 174 passengers aboard the aircraft traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, most of them Israelis. According to eyewitness accounts and information from Israeli officials, crew members and passengers entered the cockpit and subdued the attacker, helping avert a disaster.
NBC News identified the suspect as Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami, citing sources in three agencies familiar with the investigation and a diplomat in the Middle East. Authorities have not officially disclosed his name. UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi said investigators are establishing the full circumstances, motives and possible connections of the incident.
The aircraft captain, Indian citizen Smith Machchhar, said from a hospital in Abu Dhabi that he suffered serious injuries and felt the aircraft descend before he was able to open the cockpit door for passengers and crew to intervene.
