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The Omani co-pilot who allegedly attempted to hijack a FlyDubai formation to Israel past week told interrogators successful the United Arab Emirates past week that helium planned the onslaught adjacent earlier helium was employed by the Emirati hose much than a twelvemonth ago, according to an Israeli official.
He had intended to clang the FlyDubai pitchy into Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, the authoritative said, adding that the co-pilot, who aggregate sources acquainted with the probe person identified to CBS News arsenic Omani nationalist Hamam al Hamami, had flown to Israel successful the past.
A bid of large information failures preceded the alleged hijacking attempt, and insiders told CBS News connected Monday that the incidental should person been prevented agelong earlier the level adjacent took off.
An airdrome information car blocks an entranceway to vehicles extracurricular Israel's Ben Gurion airdrome arsenic flights are interrupted aft the state activated aerial defenses pursuing a rocket launched from Yemen, successful a May 4, 2025, record photo.
JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty
"A immense failure"
Israel's ain information protocols should've prohibited al Hamami from ever flying to Tel Aviv, according to Eytan Ben David, a erstwhile lawman caput of aviation information astatine El Al, Israel's flagship airline.
The Sept. 30 formation was approaching Israel erstwhile the co-pilot allegedly attacked the skipper with the plane's clang ax and attempted to clang the aircraft, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, passengers connected committee the plane and the formation captain.
Israel receives lists of passengers and unit for each flights into the state successful advance, and, astatine slightest successful the past, each idiosyncratic was checked by a information part wrong the proscription ministry to marque definite they posed nary threat, Ben David told CBS News.
An Omani aviator should ne'er person been permitted to alert into Israel nether its existent guidelines, arsenic Oman does not person ceremonial diplomatic relations with Israel, said Ben David, who is besides a erstwhile lawman caput of Israel's nationalist information council.
"It's capable that you spot that helium is of Omani nationality to say, 'Stop, helium cannot alert to Israel due to the fact that helium is Omani, regenerate him with different pilot,'" said Ben David.
"It's a immense failure, and it's a large miracle," helium added of the seemingly narrowly averted catastrophe.
Passengers committee a FlyDubai flight, bound for Dubai, earlier taking disconnected from Ben Gurion Airport adjacent Tel Aviv, Sept. 30, 2026.
Jack GUEZ/AFP/Getty
Ben David said helium erstwhile personally prohibited a aviator with Iranian citizenship from flying a Turkish airlines level into Israel nether the aforesaid rules, which widen to Iran.
Sources acquainted with the probe told CBS News it is imaginable al Hamami has dual citizenship, which could explicate however helium was allowed to alert to Israel.
Smit Machchhar, the FlyDubai captain, was capable to combat disconnected his co-pilot agelong capable to unlock the cockpit door, he told India's leader past week from a infirmary furniture successful Saudi Arabia wherever helium was recovering from stab wounds.
A radical of Israeli passengers and FlyDubai unit past overpowered the co-pilot, and 2 off-duty pilots who were connected the formation managed to summation power of the craft and marque an exigency landing successful Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Israel's authorities passed a instrumentality successful 2023 that requires overseas airlines to taxable a database of passengers and unit up of each flights to Israel, aimed astatine preventing violent incidents.
Following the alleged attempted hijacking past week, Israel's proscription ministry, arsenic good arsenic its home and overseas information agencies, person each said they were not liable for vetting overseas formation crews.
Ben David said the work to decently vet overseas pilots chiefly falls connected the information subdivision wrong Israel's proscription ministry.
Israel has made efforts for galore years to unafraid its ain airlines and vet their personnel. But overseas airlines and their crews person emerged arsenic a imaginable spread successful aviation security, and Israel's adjacent calamity past week is apt to trigger a reevaluation, Ben David said.
"I'm definite each the countries successful the satellite heard astir this and said to themselves, 'Let's cheque what the concern is for us,'" helium told CBS News.
Other information lapses?
Failing to artifact him based connected his nationality is conscionable 1 illustration of the evident failures that took spot earlier al Hamami boarded the formation to Tel Aviv past week.
He had besides been removed from his relation arsenic a aviator by his erstwhile employer, Oman Air, with which helium underwent caller aviator training, sources told CBS News implicit the weekend.
Surveillance by Omani authorities revealed that helium was visiting extremist websites, the sources said.
Oman Air transferred him to an bureau job. One of the sources said al Hamami resigned from his occupation astatine Oman Air aft being placed connected table duty, leaving the hose astir 2024.
Al Hamami past moved to Dubai, successful the United Arab Emirates, wherever helium was hired by FlyDubai. The Emirati bearer hired the Omani without vetting him with Oman's government, the sources told CBS News, and arsenic helium was not fired by the archetypal hose helium whitethorn not person raised immoderate reddish flags anyway.
FlyDubai told CBS News connected Monday that it could not respond to questions connected the incidental owed to the ongoing investigation.
Al Hamami is an Omani national but was not calved successful Oman and lived astir of his beingness extracurricular the Persian Gulf nation, the sources told CBS News. They said his parent is Syrian and his begetter is Omani.
Oman's authorities has not publically confirmed the co-pilot's nationality.
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FlyDubai alleged attacker was apt lone wolf, sources say
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