New Delhi, October 4 (Daily Kiran) : Australia has initiated an investigation into a troubling incident involving Flydubai Flight FZ1073. This follows an attack on Captain Smita Machhar by her co-pilot, who reportedly attempted to crash the aircraft. The co-pilot, identified as 29-year-old Hamam Al-Hammami from Oman, is said to have spent two years in Australia as a student.
Despite suffering severe injuries from an axe attack, Captain Machhar managed to save the lives of 170 passengers on the flight bound for Tel Aviv. Reports indicate that Al-Hammami was granted an Australian student visa in 2014 and returned to the country to pursue a university course the following year. However, his visa was revoked in 2019 after he left Australia, and officials confirmed he is no longer enrolled in any course.
Media outlets have cited Al-Hammami’s now-deleted LinkedIn profile, which indicated he studied engineering at an Australian university. The specific institution remains unidentified. The United Arab Emirates, which is leading the investigation, has classified the incident as a terrorist attack.
In a related development, the flight crew reportedly clashed with Israeli passengers while restraining the co-pilot during the incident. Passengers refused to comply with the crew’s requests to release the alleged hijacker. According to a report from the New York Post, two Israeli passengers who assisted in subduing the co-pilot expressed confusion over the crew’s insistence on letting him go.
One of the passengers, banking executive Tzvika Manes, recounted, “The crew kept telling us to release the attacker, and we couldn’t understand why.” Another passenger, real estate professional Daniel Schlichter, recalled a heated argument with the crew, stating, “They were asking us to free the terrorist, which immediately raised our suspicions.”
Video footage shared by Israeli news channel i24News shows Al-Hammami kneeling inside the aircraft with his hands bound, bloodstains visible on his clothing. In the 45-second clip, passengers can be heard repeatedly insisting that only police should handle the situation, indicating their intent to turn the restrained co-pilot over to law enforcement rather than harm him.
This incident has raised significant safety concerns and highlights the challenges faced by airline crews in crisis situations.
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