More Flydubai pilots arrested in connection with attempted Tel Aviv flight hijacking

United Arab Emirates arrests two more Flydubai pilots over foiled terror attack on Israel-bound flight.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Two additional Flydubai pilots have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates, Adhadhu reported, as authorities investigate the attempted hijacking of a passenger aircraft bound for Israel on September 30, raising new questions about whether the suspected terrorist acted alone.

The two pilots, both citizens of the Maldives, were taken into custody on October 3, according to reports from the island nation.

Their families were initially unable to obtain information about their whereabouts, but were subsequently notified by the Maldivian Embassy in the UAE that they were being held by Emirati police.

The men are reportedly among six Maldivian nationals employed as pilots by Flydubai and were the most recently recruited members of that group.

Both had professional contact with Hamam al-Hammami, the 29-year-old Omani co-pilot accused of attempting to crash Flydubai flight FZ1073 into Ben Gurion Airport.

The two were initially questioned as part of a wider investigation into airline employees who had interacted with al-Hammami.

“The information available at this moment is that the two individuals have been summoned for questioning,” Maldivian government spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said on October 3.

A subsequent report on October 8 indicated that the pilots remained in police custody. Neither Shareef nor a spokesman for the Maldivian Foreign Ministry would comment on the reported arrests.

Emirati authorities have not publicly identified the two men as suspects or disclosed whether they are accused of participating in the attempted attack.

The reported detentions come as UAE prosecutors continue investigating the September 30 incident, which they have characterized as a premeditated terrorist attack.

In a statement issued Friday, UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said investigators had established that al-Hammami intended to seize control of the Boeing 737 and deliberately crash it into the passenger terminal at Ben Gurion Airport, causing mass casualties.

According to prosecutors, al-Hammami had been radicalized while studying in Australia in 2017 and had become inspired by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.

Investigators said the suspect deliberately pursued a career in aviation as part of his preparations and had used two previous flights to Tel Aviv to familiarize himself with the route and airport.

During the September 30 flight, al-Hammami allegedly attacked the aircraft’s Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, with an emergency axe, inflicting serious head injuries before attempting to take control of the aircraft.

Despite his injuries, Machchhar resisted the attacker. Another pilot aboard the aircraft, assisted by crew members and passengers, intervened and helped overpower al-Hammami.

The aircraft plunged thousands of feet during the struggle before two reserve pilots regained control and diverted it to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely. All passengers survived.

In Friday’s statement, UAE prosecutors said al-Hammami had provided a detailed confession in the presence of his lawyer and admitted that he had “acted alone, without the involvement of others.”

However, authorities emphasized that they were continuing to investigate the veracity of that claim, including the possibility that additional individuals were involved in planning or facilitating the attack.