Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 9/30

[SVPete]

Shades of 9/11: FlyDubai Pilot Attempts Hijacking, Mass Destruction

https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/09/30/flydubai-pilot-attempts-hijacking-mass-destruction-n3819464

Imagine if Flight 93 had had a happy ending. Israel and Saudi Arabia may have just experienced their own version, 25 years later.

The Wall Street Journal reports cautiously on what appears to be a terrorist hijacking over Israel. Their report notes a "struggle" in the cockpit, a steep dive, and an intervention by passengers to resolve it:

Pilots on a FlyDubai flight to Israel were injured after a struggle in the cockpit that sent the plane into a steep dive before it made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

FlyDubai, the sister airline to the long-haul carrier Emirates, didn’t explain what happened in the flight for the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, only saying that it “experienced an incident while en route.” Flight FZ1073 landed in Tabuk in western Saudi Arabia and “all passengers are safe and accounted for,” the carrier added.

A statement from the Tabuk airport said “the captain and the co-pilot sustained injuries and were transported to the hospital for necessary medical care.” It did not elaborate on the cause of the injuries.

The Times of Israel has a much more robust account of the attempted hijacking. The terrorist turns out to be the FlyDubai co-pilot, hired less than a year earlier, on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. After stabbing the captain, the co-pilot dove the plane 17,000 feet until passengers breached the cockpit and saved their own lives, not to mention whatever the co-pilot may have aimed the plane at in Saudi Arabia or Israel:

A commercial flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a bloody clash in the cockpit that Israeli officials suspect was an attempt to wrest control of the plane and crash it in an act of terrorism. None of the 180-odd passengers, most of whom were Israeli, were reported injured.

People who were on the plane, and loved ones to whom they’d spoken, told Hebrew media that it appeared the flight’s copilot had stabbed the captain, at which point the plane went out of control. The plane initially plummeted some 17,000 feet in under a minute.

A group of Israeli passengers managed to storm the cockpit, subdued the stabber and stabilized the plane, witnesses said. Daniel, an Israeli passenger, said another pair of pilots, who were on the plane, took control of the flight. About an hour later, it landed in Saudi Arabia.

FlyDubai might be more thorough in the future in its screening of prospective employees, pilots and aircrew especially.

What Are the Odds? Russian and Ukrainian Pilots Save Hijacked Flight to Israel.

https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/09/30/what-are-the-odds-russianukrainian-pilots-saved-hijacked-flight-to-israel-n4957798

In an extraordinary example of individuals from hostile countries working together to save lives, Israeli media that spoke with airport authorities are saying that the alternate pilot crew who landed a hijacked flight safely included a Russian and a Ukrainian.

Israel Hayom identified the brave off-duty pilots’ nationalities after speaking with officials at the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The temporarily hijacked FlyDubai flight was headed for Tel Aviv in Israel, with many Israeli passengers, but after the violent incident it diverted to Tabuk for an emergency landing.

There was some initial confusion about the nationality of all the pilots on board the aircraft, as multiple outlets at first reported that the two pilots fighting in the cockpit and causing the near-crash were Russian and Ukrainian. New details indicate that the attacking co-pilot is Omani and the stabbed pilot is Emirati. Oman has been consistently supportive of the Iranian regime in its ongoing conflict with Israel this year. Israel Hayom clarified that there was a Russian and Ukrainian pilot crew on board, but that they were off duty and only took control when the other pilots were unable to do so because of their fight.

[SVPete]

FlyDubai Hijacker Wanted to Crash Into Tel Aviv Airport to Maximize Casualties

https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/10/05/flydubai-hijacker-wanted-to-crash-into-tel-aviv-airport-to-maximize-casualties-n4957977

The thwarted airplane hijacking last week could have been even more deadly than we realized if the Omani terrorist had been able to carry out his plan.

Hamam al-Hammami, the Omani who was a “free Palestine” activist, attended a UK university, drew inspiration from al-Qaeda, and was too radical even for Oman to allow him to fly, was the copilot who hacked up his pilot and tried to crash a FlyDubai flight this week. Fortunately, a group of Israelis and two off-duty pilots were able to eliminate the threat and land the plane. Al-Qaeda has since praised al-Hammami and called for more hijackings. And just as when Al-Qaeda performed the 9/11 attacks, al-Hammami was planning not only to kill about 180 people on the flight, mostly Israelis, but also to crash the plane into a building.

Apparently, the reason the terrorist committed his assault on the pilot so close to Israel was that he was aiming to hit Ben Gurion Airport. Israeli officials relayed this information to their press after interrogating the pilot.
JFEED reported October 4:

The plan, investigators say, was to approach Ben Gurion as if for a normal landing, and then, at the last moment when interception would no longer be possible, to crash the plane into the terminal and cause mass casualties. The attack was foiled only because the wounded captain managed to open the cockpit door…

Israeli officials also noted that al-Hamami arrived at Ben Gurion in June as part of the flights he was operating. During that visit in June, he gathered intelligence to prepare and plan the terror attack he intended to carry out.
...

Crew members reportedly told the Israelis who restrained al-Hammami to untie him. Suspicious, yes?
...
Al-Hammami has been planning this attack for a long time and specifically studied which airline companies would best suit his genocidal antisemitic purpose. "I searched and checked which company flies to Tel Aviv, and that's why I chose Fly Dubai. I tried to get hired by all the companies. I planned the operation even before I was accepted by the company,” he reportedly told interrogators.

FlyDubai messed up really badly, because, as I mentioned above, Oman — which is often favorable toward the terrorist Iranian regime — found al-Hammami a too dangerously fundamentalist Muslim even for them and grounded him. FlyDubai hired him without consulting his former employer. Furthermore, pilots from countries that do not have diplomatic ties to Israel are not supposed to be flying to Israel, so that was another strike against an Omani.