Omani co-pilot of the Tel Aviv-bound flydubai flight who allegedly attacked Indian pilot Smit Machchhar and attempted to crash the jet may have tried shutting down engines of the Boeing 737 after his plan to crash the aircraft into a building in Tel Aviv failed, Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported.
al-Hammami, whose past and radical views are under scanner now, allegedly struck Machchhar with an emergency axe inside the cockpit as he made an attempt to crash the jet which had 174 passengers and six crew members onboard. However, gravely injured Indian pilot managed to provide access to the crew and some passengers inside the cockpit who overpowered the co-pilot and stabilised the plane that plunged nearly 16,000 feet in 30 seconds.
The plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk from where the passengers were flown to Tel Aviv. al-Hammami was take by Saudi authorities for questioning and was later taken to the UAE where he is currently held.
