Israel’s security agency Shin Bet has sent interrogators to the United Arab Emirates to participate in the questioning of Hamam al-Hammami, the flydubai copilot accused of attempting to carry out a “terror attack” aboard a flydubai flight last week, as reported by The Times of Israel .According to two Israeli officials familiar with the probe, al-Hammami told UAE interrogators that he had planned to crash the flight into Ben Gurion Airport even before he was hired by Dubai-owned flydubai.Channel 12 also reported, citing two Israeli officials, that al-Hammami said he was acting “in revenge for Gaza” and wanted to “die as a martyr”.A third source briefed on the UAE investigation said al-Hammami had previously operated a flight to Tel Aviv earlier this year and had considered hijacking and crashing that aircraft but ultimately did not do so.Channel 12 further reported, citing two sources, that a Mossad official told Israeli Cabinet ministers on Sunday that al-Hammami had made brief visits in recent years to several countries hostile to Israel. The two Israeli officials said al-Hammami told interrogators that he applied to fly for flydubai after searching for airlines operating flights to Tel Aviv.A third source said Israel was being kept continuously updated by the UAE on the investigation.Disaster aboard the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight was averted after passengers and crew subdued co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami, who allegedly attacked Indian captain Smit Machchhar with an emergency crash axe while the aircraft was over Jordan. The UAE prosecutor general has described the incident as a “terrorist attack”.According to a timeline reported by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, al-Hammami had requested a prayer break shortly before attacking Machchhar. Despite being wounded, the captain managed to open the cockpit door, alerting an off-duty pilot travelling in the passenger cabin. Passengers then rushed into the cockpit and helped subdue al-Hammami.After his initial plan was disrupted, al-Hammami allegedly attempted to crash the aircraft into the desert by forcing it into a steep descent and trying to damage the controls. Off-duty pilots took over the aircraft and issued an emergency alert before the plane was diverted to Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where it landed at 10.57 am. The flight was carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, most of them Israeli.
