An Omani citizen, Hamam al-Hammami, has been identified as the flydubai co-pilot who attacked Indian Captain Smit Machchhar and allegedly attempted to sabotage a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight on Wednesday, according to a US media report.
NEW YORK — An Omani citizen, Hamam al-Hammami, has been identified as the flydubai co-pilot who attacked Indian Captain Smit Machchhar and allegedly attempted to sabotage a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight on Wednesday, according to a US media report.
Al-Hammami was reportedly barred from flying previously by Omani authorities for his radical ideological views, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.
On the flydubai flight FZ1073, he stabbed and seriously injured Machchhar, who fought back and managed to open the cockpit door, enabling passengers to overpower the attacker.
The flight, carrying 174 passengers, transmitted emergency signals and made a rapid descent of over 17,000 feet from 34,000 feet before safely landing at Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk city, where authorities took al-Hammami into custody.
"The alleged attacker is an Omani national named Hamam al-Hammami," the WSJ report said.
He was born to an Omani father and a Syrian mother, according to the report.
The UAE, which is leading ongoing investigations, said on Saturday that the co-pilot attempted to carry out a "terrorist act".
UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the co-pilot used a crash axe to attack Machchhar and attempted to take control of the aircraft, the state-run WAM news agency reported.
On Friday, Machchhar spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the phone, recounting the terrifying moments after being attacked, and said that he was fighting for his life, but was determined not to let others die.
He did not disclose what triggered the attack on him or the motive of the co-pilot.
Machchhar, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital in the UAE, was hailed as a "true hero" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.