Israel Had the Crew List, a Pilot Ban and a 2024 Warning, But the Omani Co-Pilot Still Flew to Tel Aviv

Israeli authorities received passenger and crew details for flydubai flight FZ1073 before it departed Dubai for Tel Aviv on 30 September 2026, including the crew's nationalities, according to officials familiar with the matter. The Omani co-pilot was not flagged before the flight, according to the officials. The flight was diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after an attack on the captain.

The UAE Attorney-General, Counsellor Dr Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, said on 3 October that the co-pilot attacked Indian captain Smit Machchhar with a cockpit crash axe and attempted to take control of the aircraft. Al Shamsi described the incident as an attempted terrorist act. Passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot after the aircraft entered a steep descent.

Crew List Reached Israel's Passenger Data Centre

The UAE shared passenger and crew names and nationalities with Israel before departure, according to regional officials cited by the Associated Press. Israel's Tax Authority separately confirmed to an Israeli newspaper that the crew list reached the National Centre for Passenger Data Analysis, the body responsible for receiving advance passenger and crew information.

Receipt by the centre does not establish that officials responsible for aviation security examined the list or that the co-pilot was specifically assessed. The Ministry of Transport and Road Safety said its security division did not conduct intelligence background checks on individual foreign airline pilots and that flydubai had told the ministry that the airline had carried out the relevant checks.

Israeli media have published differing accounts of which security agencies were responsible for reviewing information about foreign airline crews. One report said security agencies, including Mossad, were expected to examine crew names, while another said the information was available to Mossad but that the agency had not received the list. The reports did not establish which agency was responsible for screening the crew information.

Machchhar was seriously injured, and the co-pilot was also injured. Both were treated in Tabuk before being transferred to Abu Dhabi on 1 October, according to reports.

Reported Nationality Restriction

A Transport Ministry source told an Israeli newspaper that flydubai's agreement to operate in Israel required pilots to be nationals of countries with diplomatic relations with Israel. Oman has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

However, sources familiar with the investigation later told the same newspaper that the bilateral Israel-UAE aviation agreement contained no such nationality requirement. Their account did not address whether separate operating permits, security arrangements or other conditions imposed additional restrictions on flydubai.

The conflicting accounts concern the basis for the reported nationality restriction. The available reporting does not establish whether it was contained in the bilateral aviation agreement or arose from a separate operating or security requirement.

Earlier Employment Concerns

The Associated Press identified the co-pilot as Hamam al-Hammami, citing three people familiar with the case, including Gulf and Western diplomats. UAE authorities had not publicly confirmed his identity at the time of the report.

The agency reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that al-Hammami had previously been barred from flying in Oman over concerns that he had adopted extremist views. One source said he was moved to an administrative role at Oman Air before later joining flydubai. The sources did not provide details of the alleged views. Oman Air had not responded to the AP's requests for comment.

Royal Air Maroc said al-Hammami completed three months of theoretical training with the carrier in 2025 as part of its pre-employment process but was not hired. The carrier did not give a reason for its decision.

Neither account establishes what information flydubai had about his previous employment or security history when it hired him.

2024 Audit Urged Security Review

In May 2024, Israel's State Comptroller published an audit of international civil aviation security, including arrangements concerning foreign civilian aircraft entering Israeli airspace. The audit covered work conducted between April 2022 and June 2023.

The State Comptroller recommended that the National Security Council, together with the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety, Finance Ministry, Civil Aviation Authority, Israel Security Agency, known as Shin Bet, and police, conduct a comprehensive review of civil aviation security.

The recommendations concerned wider international civil aviation security arrangements and were issued before the FZ1073 incident. The report did not make a finding about the flydubai flight or its co-pilot.

Israeli media have since reported that the coordinating framework recommended by the State Comptroller had not been established.

On 4 October, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the head of the National Security Council to appoint an examiner to conduct a review of all security aspects of foreign civil aviation to Israel, according to a statement from his office.