DOMINANT ANGLE
Budapest is examining the Flydubai case from a safety perspective: a regulatory axe in the cockpit and a copilot already grounded by Oman for his extremist views.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The prosecutor's office has described the incident as a terrorist attack; the Omani co-pilot struck the commander with the cockpit's emergency axe (Index, 444).
- 02
The plane, carrying over 170 people, lost around 17,000 feet (5,200 m) before passengers intervened; two reserve pilots landed it in Saudi Arabia (Index, according to the BBC).
- 03
According to the Wall Street Journal, as cited by 444, Omani authorities had already banned the co-pilot from flying due to his extremist views.
ANALYSIS
Budapest, October 4, 2026. The Hungarian press is covering the Flydubai Dubai-Tel Aviv flight incident in two parts: the account of the attack and the copilot's background. Index, citing the BBC, reports that the United Arab Emirates prosecutor's office claims the copilot used the emergency axe stored in the cockpit to attack the commander and then attempted to take control. The plane, with over 170 people on board, reportedly lost around 17,000 feet (5,200 meters) before passengers intervened.
The commander, Smit Machchhar, who was seriously injured, managed to open the cockpit door; passengers subdued the copilot, and two reserve pilots landed the plane in Saudi Arabia. According to the Indian embassy, cited by Index, his condition is stable and his recovery is progressing well.
Index raises the central question: how did the weapon end up in the copilot's hands? Initially, passengers spoke of a knife, but authorities mention the regulatory emergency axe. 444, citing Reuters, clarifies that the axe did not bypass rules: international safety standards require it to be stored in the cockpit as emergency equipment.
444 primarily highlights the perpetrator's profile. The Emirati prosecutor's office qualifies the facts as a terrorist attack, according to the MTI agency. The Omani copilot, identified by CNN as Hammam al-Hammami, had already been banned from flying by Omani authorities due to his extremist views, according to the Wall Street Journal; CNN reports that he was fired from Oman Air last year. Media outlets mention a long stay in Syria and contacts with radical Islamists. His LinkedIn profile posted videos of Israeli planes, holy sites in Mecca and Medina, verses about courage and combat, and an image of Ayman al-Zawahiri shortly after the incident; it is unclear whether these contents were posted by a third party or scheduled in advance, the American newspaper notes.
The Hungarian coverage, based on reports from the BBC, Reuters, CNN, and the WSJ, remains focused on the facts and security breaches: the weapon on board, access to the cockpit, and the copilot's past.
