Airplane terror attack

[mids2019]

If stabbing a fellow pilot and trying to down a plane with 180 Israelis isn't terrorism what is?

It seems like a mass terrorism event has been fouled but heroes on an air plane this morning

Many if our news outlets are describing this as a stabbing on an airplane. No...if you stab the pilot and the plane plummet towards the ground that is an attempt at mass murder... terrorism.

Are the media so afraid now of using the word terrorism that they completely downplay the event. Third rated news article in the Guardian after political stories

It's a reminder of how many enemies Israel has and what they are prepared to do.

@ACupOfVintage

". It’s almost I heard of for Oman Air to pay for a would be pilots initial flying course. Also other professions within aviation - so engineers for eg also"

For context of course it's the same now across the industry across most of the rest of the world.

There are a few almost fully sponsored courses around but they are about as common as unicorns and getting a place on one is highly competitive.

It's more common to have to borrow a lot of money to pay for a course... the student /garantor has to hope the student passes and then finds a job that pays enough to service the debt.

Hi @notimagain I had thought of adding a bit about it being the same all across most of the industry but I decided against because I’m tired/weary of the whole thing. It’s been a hard few days what with the Muslim bashing and having to explain to numpties that praying 5 times a day and not shaking hands with a member of the opposite sex (male or female) does not mean the person is a terrorist.

Im also nearly at the end of a perfect weekend where I’ve had 5 young grandchildren under the age of 12 to stay and I’m tired. A very happy tired. But tired all the same.

I have absolutely no sympathy for the person who carried out this atrocity and now that we know who he is, and are thankful it’s no one we know I doubt I’ll think of him again. Going forward my thoughts and sympathy will only be for the ordinary Muslims world wide who have to carry the weight the likes of these people burden them with.

Sorry just to say

It's more common to have to borrow a lot of money to pay for a course... the student /garantor has to hope the student passes and then finds a job that pays enough to service the debt

we know all about that a few times over in this house 🙈🤣.

Not that we’ve ever been repayed 🤔

No one said that praying 5 times a day and not shaking hands with a member of the opposite sex means a person is a terrorist. That's ridiculous.

What was said was that it will make it harder for the airline to defend breaking the rules when they shouldn't have had a pilot from Oman flying into Tel Aviv in the first place. This co pilot made no secret of the fact he held devout religious views, and a background check would have apparently shown that he posted anti Israel stuff online.

I think you trying to twist the narrative is whats ridiculous.

@MNHQwhy did you delete RainingSnoring’s reply to me? I did not complain about it. And why did you delete my comment calling out their prejudicial attitude? Are we not permitted to point out that a spade is indeed a spade?

They just do not see it. The fixation and hate for one nation is staggering.

You look at all the conspiracy theories on sm stating it was a set up by Israel all from the 'free palestine' halfwits and just wonder how they get through their day if they think such bollocks.

And the terrorist is called Hammam Al hammami. My Arabic is rusty but doesnt that translate as Toilet from the family Toilet? What a name.

Someone must have reported both posts. Not me on this occasion though I have reported Raining's posts in the past.

Anyone can report any post on any thread and then MN mods take a look and decide if it breaks site rules or not.

The Flydubai copilot who attempted to crash a plane full of Israelis earlier this week was previously banned from flying by Oman’s national airline over concerns that he had been radicalized, multiple sources said on Friday and Saturday.

Despite this, the Omani copilot was subsequently hired by flydubai, and flew the Dubai to Tel Aviv route.

US media outlets on Friday named him as Hamam al-Hammami, 29. On Wednesday, he stabbed the pilot and, according to witnesses, tried to crash the plane in an attempted terror attack. He is now under investigation in the United Arab Emirates.

It was unclear whether Muscat shared its concerns about al-Hammami with other countries or airlines. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” without elaborating.

US television networks CNN and ABC reported that Oman Air removed al-Hammami from training over concerns about his extremist views, with AP reporting that he was shifted to an administrative position.

The ABC report, which cited senior intelligence and law enforcement officials, said he was found to be in possession of extremist material in 2024.

A Gulf diplomat told AP he had undergone standard security checks before being hired by flydubai, but that these checks focused on whether he had been convicted on criminal charges.

According to ABC, al-Hammami is “cooperating” with investigators and has suggested to them that he intended to crash the plane in Israel. Quoting sources briefed on the investigation, ABC reported: “Al-Hammami… has indicated that his intent was to crash the aircraft in Israel.”

https://www.timesofisrael.com/oman-reportedly-banned-flydubai-terrorist-from-flying-due-to-suspected-extremism/

According to some reports he had recently spent time in Turkey and Pakistan and was in contact with radical elements in Iran, Pakistan, Syria and Turkey.

Fan of Osama Bin Laden (Al Queda), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (ISIS) and Pakistan based Maulana Masood Azhar (Jaish-e-Mohammed).

Reports from the Israeli passengers about the all male cabin crew's behaviour indicate the possibility that it was a joint enterprise.

Quite unbelievable that the airline did not even do a cursory check of the SM posts of a pilot already banned from flying in his home country due to his support for extremism, especially when Omani pilots are barred from flying into Israel.

I don't believe it, I have to say.

@AnyfoolcanknowThepointistounderstand

Reports from the Israeli passengers about the all male cabin crew's behaviour indicate the possibility that it was a joint enterprise.

Maybe, but I'd need a hear a bit more evidence than we have had so far before really going among with that line of thinking ...

The fact the cabin crew were all male might be down to general company policy, could have just been down to the rostering gods.

Company culture at FlyDubai might not encourage a mindset of cabin crew being ready to lead a charge on the flight deck instantly because someone heard a noise...

OTOH the Israeli's passengers with their hightened sensitivities would have been less willing to pause..

I wouldn't be completely surprised if the cabin crew's initials response was WTF and then according to some reports after order was restored some of the Israeli passengers made it clear they didn't want the cabin crew to take much if any further part in the operation, because they didn't want to chance it was a joint enterprise.

Quite unbelievable that the airline did not even do a cursory check of the SM posts of a pilot already banned from flying in his home country due to his support for extremism

If Flydubai didn't know the pilot had been banned from flying in Oman would they do a SM check?

Personally I don't know...

With any luck he’ll see a firing squad.

There are reports cabin crew wanted the co-pilot untied which is rather an odd response as he'd just gone crazy, repeatedly stabbed the Captain and tried to destroy flight instruments!

Too nuts to make up IMO.

Would airlines not do employment/reference checks for pilots though?

Frightening thought if they don't.

Can't explain why any of the cabin crew thought untieing the co-pilot might have been sensible..given the Israeli's had the flight deck buttoned up I wonder if they were really aware of the full magnitude of what had gone on, and it's just possible their caring side had kicked in...I really don't know but it's not something that automatically rings really loud alarm bells with me.

In any event even if they did ask I don't really see the need to then leap to joint venture.

If the co-pilot had succeded in incapacitating the captain before he'd got the flight deck door unlocked events/behaviour in the cabin would have become irrelevant - nobody would have got through the flight deck door to stop the co-pilot doing whatever he was planning to do.

Would airlines not do employment/reference checks for pilots though?

I know what went on where I worked but no idea what checks Flydubai would do...it might not be much more than a basic criminal record check and references from previous employer(s), and we know how that can work.

He was also in Morocco for 3 months. Doing ground school apparently. I would like ‘notimagain’ to comment on if this was perhaps because he’d been on the ground too long and perhaps needed a new license/typerating.

Hi

Not followed his (short) career in detail TBH...

If the move from Oman to Flydubai involved an aircraft type change, yes he'd need a new type rating.

Three months for groundschool plus simulators sounds a bit lengthy but perhaps not out of the question for someone not long out of basic training.

Reports from the Israeli passengers about the all male cabin crew's behaviour indicate the possibility that it was a joint enterprise

Theres a CNN reel from a passenger that shows the 2 or 3 members of the cabin crew having to really raise their voice to get the passengers in economy to sit down. It also shows confusion about the dentist. He was sent forward by one lot of crew and sent back again, when he then went forward a second time he was allowed to stay. I think there’s a lot to be said about the Israelis having a heightened sense of awareness as the cabin crew in the video I mentioned were still looking immaculate whilst some of the passengers were looking bloody.

Also, one thing that’s bothering me. The huge boombox/beatbox that was used in the celebrations when the plane was on the ground and the passengers were still seated - despite giving it serious thought I still cant see how something that size could fit in an overhead locker and qualify as hand luggage.

Thank you for that.

I think the timeline of his career is a bit out - some need reports saying 7 years of flying at Oman Air yet he’s only supposed to be 29. Others saying he was a ‘cadet’ at Oman air and if that’s the case he’d never have flown enough hours before he was grounded to be employed by FlyDubai.

There’s still a lot to be clarified.

There are reports cabin crew wanted the co-pilot untied which is rather an odd response as he'd just gone crazy, repeatedly stabbed the Captain and tried to destroy flight instruments!

Dont forget that the early reports mentioned a fight between the pilot and copilot. It was only confirmed otherwise later. Perhaps the crew didn’t actually know what had gone on either in the early stages and also thought it had been a punch up so wanted the lower rank officer untied. You know, as in, why is it him that’s tied up - I’d just because he’s the first officer.

And let’s face it - the cabin really did seem to be under the control of the passengers at that stage.

Well here from the horses mouth, is the Pilot - Captain Smit Machchhar - recounting how the attack played out and how he opened the cockpit door.

Absolutely horrific that he was stabbed in the head continuously. Sounds like it was the onboard axe (shallower wounds?), as if it was a knife which would have made deeper wounds it's unlikely he would have been able to tell the tale.

He literally used his last bit of fight in opening the door again to save himself and hundreds of people.

Truly amazing man.

https://x.com/IsraeliPM/status/2106459702687359340

I'm just astounded there there are axes on board. You'd think another implement such as those red things police use to bash in doors would be a better idea, they'd assist in breaking down the door in an emergency but obvious less likely to be used as a lethal weapon.

This guy was clearly a ticking timebomb how on early did he even have a licence.

@Gloriia

I'm just astounded there there are axes on board.

A fire in the cabin of an airliner is probably one of the worse emergencies you can have.. it has the potential to end up on a hull loss far more quickly than an engine fire or a cargo hold fire (because engines/holds have built in fire protection/supression).

There used some stats that went along the lines that if you couldn't get a cabin fire under control in under (maybe) 10-15 minutes you'd lose the aircraft after another 10......so 25 min total.....

As a result you need crew trained to fire fight - every couple of years as part of recurrent crew training it was off to the fire ground with a fireman to practice with the kit....

The onboard kit was items like fire gloves, smoke hoods and yes, the fire axe - used for getting into areas like the space between the internal cabin wall liner and the actual hull, because that might be the potential seat of a fire.

ETA: as an aside - you don't want anything in the cabin that can bash the flight deck door down.

When HQ allows a pic of a standard Boeing fire axe.

The worse thing is that this pilot is probably now on an Islamist hit list for saving Israelis.

Hamam al-Hammami, the co-pilot being held in Abu Dhabi after the suspected hijacking on Wednesday, said women should be "stomped on" and praised giving a woman a "pre-emptive slap" in social media posts made while he was enrolled at Buckinghamshire New University (BNU).
He also appeared to praise Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sounds like a lovely chap all round 🙄

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/10/03/flydubai-hijackers-hateful-rants-while-at-uk-university/