The co-pilot who tried to bring down a Flydubai flight full of Israelis did not need to smuggle a weapon on board. He used the emergency axe that is kept in the cockpit, the United Arab Emirates has confirmed, in what its top prosecutor now formally calls an attempted terrorist act.
UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said on Saturday that the co-pilot began carrying out his plan mid-flight, "attacking the captain inside the flight deck using a crash axe" and then trying to take over the aircraft's controls. His statement was titled as a finding of planning and an attempted terrorist act behind flight FZ1073.
It is the first time UAE authorities have confirmed that the co-pilot attacked the captain and named the weapon. Earlier Emirati statements had described only a security incident and said investigators were checking whether terrorism or prior planning was involved.
A crash axe is a lightweight emergency tool stored in the cockpit for breaking through panels or jammed doors after a crash. Early reports spoke of a knife, which raised questions about how the co-pilot got a weapon through security. The finding shifts the focus from screening at the airport to who is allowed into the cockpit in the first place.
That question is already at the center of the case. The co-pilot, named in media reports as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, had reportedly been barred from flying in Oman over concerns about extremist views before Flydubai hired him. Emirati authorities and the airline have not publicly identified him, and the UAE has not yet established a motive or said whether it believes he acted alone.
Flydubai has not commented on the findings. A spokesperson said the airline recognizes "there are many questions at this stage" and that the circumstances remain under investigation.
The flight was carrying 174 mostly Israeli passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, with 182 people on board in all. A crash was averted when passengers and crew got into the cockpit and subdued the attacker, and the plane landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
The captain, Indian national Smit Machchhar, is recovering in the UAE, where Dubai's crown prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, visited him. Investigators are still examining physical and digital evidence, and final findings will be released once the process is complete.
