DOMINANT ANGLE
Paris is examining the chain of control that allowed a copilot from Oman Air, who was sidelined for presumed radicalism, to join the cockpit of a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight, more than the Emirati judicial qualification.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Emirati Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi stated on Saturday, October 3, that the co-pilot had "begun to carry out a terrorist act" with the cockpit's emergency axe (WAM, as reported by RFI and Le Monde).
- 02
According to CNN, ABC, Al-Arabiya, and the Wall Street Journal, as cited by Le Monde and 20 Minutes, the co-pilot had been banned from flying by Oman due to concerns over extremist views.
- 03
According to RFI, the Israeli authorities had received the crew list, but neither the Ministry of Transportation, the Shin Bet, nor the Mossad flagged any alerts about the co-pilot.
ANALYSIS
Paris, October 4, 2026. The French press first reported the statement of the Attorney General of the United Arab Emirates, Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, reported on Saturday, October 3, by the official WAM agency: the co-pilot of Flydubai flight FZ1073 "had begun to carry out a terrorist act", "attacked the captain in the cockpit with the emergency axe" and attempted "to take control of the plane". RFI, Le Monde, Sud Ouest, and 20 Minutes recall that the investigation is ongoing "to establish all the circumstances of the incident and its motivations".
The incident dates back to Wednesday, September 30. The Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to subdue the aggressor; the aircraft, which had "steeply plummeted", landed in Saudi Arabia. The HuffPost specifies that the flight was carrying 174 people, including 166 Israelis. French headlines do not agree on the weapon: emergency axe according to the prosecutor, knife according to BFMTV and The HuffPost.
The core of the coverage focuses on the suspect's profile. Citing CNN, ABC, Al-Arabiya, and the Wall Street Journal, French media indicate that Hammam al-Hammami, an Omani whose mother is Syrian, would have been banned from flying by Oman due to extremist views, after a stay in Syria, and then would have applied unsuccessfully to Emirates before joining Flydubai. BFMTV, which analyzed a LinkedIn profile seen by CNN, also mentions a stint at Royal Air Maroc. Sud Ouest and RFI note that the prosecutor did not reveal the co-pilot's nationality, a Saudi source having spoken of an Omani to AFP.
RFI devotes a report from Jerusalem to the "security controversy": Israeli law requires companies to transmit the list of crews 48 hours before landing, and the authorities had received it, but the Ministry of Transport says it lacks intelligence tools, the Shin Bet recalls being mandated only for Israeli companies, and several MPs are calling for a parliamentary inquiry.
BFMTV finally gives the floor to Benjamin Netanyahu, who invited the pilot to Israel: "You are a true hero of the brave peoples of India and Israel". The Israeli Prime Minister claims that the co-pilot had undergone radical Islamist indoctrination and wanted to crash the plane. The available articles do not detail the suspension of Emirati flights to Israel or the Australian investigations.
SOURCES (5)
- Sud OuestMEDIUM
- HuffPost FranceMEDIUM
- BFMTVMEDIUM
