Omani co-pilot tried to shut down engines after attacking Indian pilot says Italian media
By Anjali Sharma
WASHINHGTON – According to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera on Sunday reported that the incident involved an Omani co-pilot who allegedly attacked his Indian colleague Captain Smit and attempted to take control of a flydubai aircraft may have involved an attempt to shut down the plane’s engines.
The aircraft lost 16,000 feet in 30 seconds before passengers and off-duty pilots regained control and made an emergency landing in Tabuk, media reported.
The newspaper reconstructed the incident using testimonies from people directly involved, reports submitted to aviation safety authorities, accounts from airport staff and air traffic controllers, and data from specialized platforms.
According to the report, cited Israeli intelligence, Hammam al-Hammami’s initial plan was to kill Flight Captain Smit Machchhar, take control of the Boeing 737 and fly it to Tel Aviv, where he allegedly intended to crash it into a skyscraper.
The co-pilot reportedly put the plan into action after pretending to pray inside the cockpit.
He took out a crash axe, approached Captain Machchhar from behind and attacked him.
Machchhar initially believed he had been hit by a broken part of the aircraft. However, he soon realized that he was being attacked as the blows continued.
The captain suffered severe injuries to his head and arm and lost a significant amount of blood.
He tried to open the cockpit door, but Hammami shut it. Machchhar managed to open it again.
A woman whose daughter was in the toilet heard loud thudding sounds coming from the cockpit.
She alerted other passengers and two off-duty pilots who were travelling on the flight.
Several passengers then rushed towards the cockpit and found Machchhar lying in a pool of blood.
The report said Hammami realised that his original plan could no longer be carried out and allegedly decided to crash the aircraft in a desert area.
He switched off the autopilot and pushed the control stick forward.
The aircraft then lost 16,000 feet of altitude within about 30 seconds and began rapidly descending towards the ground.
The videos recorded during the incident showed that the aircraft’s cabin emergency lights were on.
According to Corriere Della Sera, this could indicate that the Boeing 737 had lost its main electrical power and switched to battery power.
The report said this could happen if the generators were switched off or if both engines were shut down.
Investigators are examining whether Hammami moved the two engine fuel switches from “Run” to “Cutoff”.
The aircraft descended rapidly, its speed crossed 970 kilometres per hour, reportedly causing damage to its tail rudder.
Hammami also allegedly tried to interfere with the aircraft’s controls before passengers managed to overpower him.
Yaniv Hayoun, a plumber travelling on the aircraft, pulled the control stick towards himself, helping prevent the plane from losing more altitude.
The two off-duty pilots later took control of the aircraft.
According to the report, the aircraft lost altitude again at around 9:25, possibly because of a lack of engine thrust that Hayoun could not detect.
The two off-duty pilots then intervened and brought the aircraft back to a normal flight position.
The flight parameters were reportedly suitable for restarting the engines.
Saudi Arabian air traffic controllers later instructed the aircraft to turn around. After a few minutes, the crew was directed to make an emergency landing at Tabuk.
The pilots successfully landed the aircraft. Captain Smit Machchhar was taken to hospital for treatment, while Hammami was handed over to Saudi Arabian authorities.
Israel has described the incident as a terror attack and is investigating how an Omani pilot was cleared to operate a flight to Tel Aviv despite Israel having no diplomatic relations with Oman and its security restrictions.
