Indian captain Sumit Machar was assaulted by Omani co-pilot Hammam Al-Hammami on a flydubai flight. Now new information has come out about this incident. Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, citing Israeli intelligence, said Hammami also tried to shut down the plane’s engine. According to the report, Hammami’s first plan was to kill Captain Machar and seize control of the Boeing 737. After this he wanted to take the plane to Tel Aviv and crashed into a skyscraper.

Hammami pretended to pray in the cockpit. He then took out a crash ax and attacked Captain Machar from behind. Machar suffered severe head and hand injuries and bled profusely. He tried to open the cockpit door, but Hammami locked it. Machar opened the door again. Meanwhile, a woman heard a loud noise from the cockpit. His daughter was in the toilet at that time. The woman told other passengers and the two off-duty pilots present on the plane. Several passengers reached the cockpit and found Machar covered in blood.

What other plans did Hammami prepare?

According to Israeli media reports, Al-Hammami told UAE investigators that he planned to kill Captain Machar and then continue flying the flight normally. The plane was then supposed to hit any building or other plane at Ben Gurion Airport. This attack was supposed to be on the lines of 9/11 attacks. If the plan to attack Ben Gurion Airport failed, he also planned to crash the plane into a skyscraper in Tel Aviv or a US military base in Jordan.

The plane descended 16 thousand feet in 30 seconds

According to the report, seeing the first plan fail, Hammami tried to crash the plane in the desert. He switched off the autopilot and moved the control stick forward. The plane descended about 16 thousand feet in just 30 seconds. The plane’s emergency lights were on. According to the report, this indicated that the main power had gone out and the plane was running on batteries. This can happen when the generator is off or both engines are off. The investigation is also looking into whether Hammami cut off the fuel switches of both engines from the run.

Meanwhile, the plane’s speed exceeded 970 kmph and its tail rudder (the rear part that changes direction) was damaged. Passenger Yaniv Hayun pulled the control stick towards himself to prevent the plane from descending further. After this both the off-duty pilots took control. At about 9:25 the plane started descending again. The pilots took control of the plane. Saudi air traffic control turned the plane back and made an emergency landing in Tabuk.

How did the Omani pilot get approval?

Machar was taken to hospital, while Hammami was handed over to Saudi authorities. Israel has termed the incident as a terrorist attack. It is also now being investigated how the Omani pilot was allowed to fly the flight to Tel Aviv, despite having no diplomatic ties with Oman and security restrictions.