UAE officials, leading the investigation, stated that flydubai first officer Hamam al-Hammami used an emergency axe to attack Captain Smit Machchhar on flight FZ 1073. The first officer confessed to investigators that he intended to "eliminate" the captain and then covertly steer the aircraft to crash into Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. He believed that by waiting until the last minute to act, he could limit the risk of his plan being exposed, prevent those on board from raising an alarm, and make it harder to stop him.

Sources indicate that this was why the suspect waited until the plane entered Jordanian airspace before attempting to take control of the cockpit. However, the plot failed because the captain fiercely resisted and managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers to intervene.

Image of the first officer injured and restrained after attacking the captain on 30/9. Photo: East2West.

Investigators believe there are many indications that the first officer acted alone, like a "lone wolf", rather than on behalf of an extremist organization.

Prior to the attack, Hamam al-Hammami had posted on social media, complaining that many women refused to marry him because he required them to wear a Niqab, a traditional Islamic face veil. The 29-year-old also displayed a desire to control women, declaring his future wife must quit her job after marriage.

"They all refused. But when my mother said, 'My son is a pilot', they all suddenly agreed," Hammami wrote in a 2022 post on his X account. At the time, he was working for national airline Oman Air, but only in an office role, not as a pilot.

Hammami also expressed the belief that "decent women" would be "corrupted" if they worked alongside men, and he refused to shake women's hands. Colleagues described Hammami's behavior as "strange" and a sign of fanaticism.

Image posted on Hamam al-Hammami's social media account. Photo: News9.

The flydubai first officer had also posted images of the Islamic holy city of Mecca, accompanied by a poem stating he "did not fear death." His social media also featured images of al-Qaeda leaders, successors to terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

These details emerged as Australian police investigate whether Hammami showed signs of radicalization during his studies in the country. The flydubai first officer had previously studied mechanical engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, Herald Sun reported on 8/10.

Ngoc Anh (According to Herald Sun, AP)