In response to the latest terror attack incident aboard flight FZ 1073, flydubai airline has temporarily suspended all flights to Tel Aviv until further notice.
In an official statement attributed to Flydubai Chief Executive Officer Ghaith Al Ghaith, the airline said its captain had returned to the UAE after receiving medical clearance.
“I am relieved to confirm that all 172 passengers and crew on board are safe and being cared for. This includes our Captain, who has now returned to the UAE following medical clearance. We will continue to provide everyone affected with the support they need,” the statement said.
Thanking the crew, the passengers and the pilots who helped secure the aircraft and land safely, Ghait, in the same statement, said, ” I want to express my deep gratitude to our crew, our Captain, and the pilots who secured the aircraft and landed it safely. I extend our sincere gratitude to the passengers on board who assisted our crew during a challenging situation.”
The airline also thanked the Saudi authorities for their instant response and the UAE authorities and other stakeholders for helping the passengers and crew to home safely.
According to reports, the pilot who attempted to sabotage the flight was barred from flying by his native country over his adopted extremist views lately.
Identified as Hamam Alhamami, he is an Omani national born in the UAE. As per reports, Alhamami spent most of his time in his maternal country Syria where he was allegedly influenced by extremist ideas. He was earlier found to posses extremist materials in 2024 while working as a trainee for Oman air. He was barred from flying after being identified as security risk and was deported to an administrative role. He then left the airline in 2025 and joined Royal Air Maroc and quit in January before joining Flydubai. Sources have questioned his appointment by the Dubai based airline that allowed him to operate in sensitive route flight.
Besides, his social media profile also revealed his intentions to crash the carrier in Israel.
The first post reportedly showed a series of clips in the cockpits of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft, with the person filming zooming in on a plane that belongs to the Israeli airline El Al. The video ends with a photo of Ayam al-Zawahiri, a terrorist who led al-Qaeda after the death of Osama Bin Laden, and a photo of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi – who killed nine people in a 2009 suicide bombing in the US.
The second featured an AI-generated image showing Islam’s three holiest sites in Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem, with a poem in the background speaking of rejecting humiliation, not fearing death, and defending one’s dignity, read media reports.