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Israel Prepared to Shoot Down Flydubai Plane After Cockpit Attack
Confirmed
In Short: Israel scrambled fighter jets and stood ready to shoot down a Flydubai plane after a cockpit stabbing attack.
Israeli fighter jets were prepared to shoot down the Flydubai plane if it had continued its course towards Tel Aviv after a cockpit stabbing attack, CBS News reported on Monday, citing two Israeli sources.
The incident occurred on September 30, when a co-pilot attacked the captain in the cockpit with the cockpit's emergency ax, according to the UAE's attorney general.
The captain managed to fight off the co-pilot and unlock the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to subdue the attacker.
Israeli Air Force personnel attempted to contact the cockpit by radio but received no response, prompting the fighter jets to be scrambled.
If the plane had maintained its course for Tel Aviv, Israeli fighter pilots were prepared to visually identify the occupants of the cockpit and potentially order the aircraft to be brought down.
The authority to order the aircraft brought down would ultimately have rested with the Prime Minister, according to sources.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, suggested that the incident looked like a suicide attempt, but later said that the attacker had undergone Islamist radicalization.
Netanyahu also stated that the attacker intended to crash the plane at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, and that Israel was investigating whether he was dispatched by another party.
The suspect, identified as Ayman al-Hamami, moved to Dubai and was hired by FlyDubai without being vetted by the Omani government, according to sources.
Al Hamami had flown to Israel in the past and had planned the attack even before being employed by FlyDubai.
The plane was carrying 172 people, and Israeli airspace was closed during the incident.
The jets were later recalled after the plane turned toward Saudi Arabia, where Saudi fighter jets were also deployed.
What this adds
The incident has raised questions about cockpit security and the vetting process for airline employees.
Background
An altercation on a Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv has sparked questions about cockpit security.
According to reports, the co-pilot, identified as Omani, attacked the Indian captain in the cockpit.
What's confirmed
- Israeli fighter jets were prepared to shoot down the Flydubai plane if it had continued its course towards Tel Aviv after a cockpit stabbing attack, CBS News reported on Monday, citing two Israeli sources.
- The incident occurred on September 30, when a co-pilot attacked the captain in the cockpit with the cockpit's emergency ax, according to the UAE's attorney general.
- The captain managed to fight off the co-pilot and unlock the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to subdue the attacker.
- Israeli Air Force personnel attempted to contact the cockpit by radio but received no response, prompting the fighter jets to be scrambled.
- If the plane had maintained its course for Tel Aviv, Israeli fighter pilots were prepared to visually identify the occupants of the cockpit and potentially order the aircraft to be brought down.
- The authority to order the aircraft brought down would ultimately have rested with the Prime Minister, according to sources.
- The Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, suggested that the incident looked like a suicide attempt, but later said that the attacker had undergone Islamist radicalization.
- Netanyahu also stated that the attacker intended to crash the plane at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, and that Israel was investigating whether he was dispatched by another party.
- The suspect, identified as Ayman al-Hamami, moved to Dubai and was hired by FlyDubai without being vetted by the Omani government, according to sources.
- Al Hamami had flown to Israel in the past and had planned the attack even before being employed by FlyDubai.
- The plane was carrying 172 people, and Israeli airspace was closed during the incident.
- The jets were later recalled after the plane turned toward Saudi Arabia, where Saudi fighter jets were also deployed.
What's still developing
- “Shooting down the passenger jet would be considered better than many hundreds being killed if a rogue plane slammed into Israel's prominent Azrieli buildings, the airport or another ‘high-value target’,” sources told CBS News.
- Israel has a long-standing procedure for potential 9/11-style attacks involving passenger aircraft, under which a rogue plane approaching the country could be shot down to prevent it from hitting a high-value target.
- At one point, sources said, al Hamami posted a video of El Al Israeli Airlines planes in Dubai with a photo at the end of the clip showing Ayman al-Zawahiri, a well-known al Qaeda leader who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2022.
- "We are investigating whether he was dispatched, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price."
- In the same interview with Fox, Netanyahu said "personal information" gathered during ongoing questioning had led Israel to the conclusion that the co-pilot "underwent Islamist radical indoctrination."
- "We're working on it right now," Mr. Trump said.
- His comments went further than Netanyahu's, who told Fox it was "too early to say" if Iran was involved.
- Updated on: October 5, 2026 / 12:01 PM EDT / CBS News Days after a FlyDubai co-pilot made a violent attempt to crash the aircraft and was subdued by passengers and other crew members, questions about the suspect and his motive continue to swirl.