Wannabe flydubai hijacker planned to crash plane into Israeli tower in 9/11-like attack

The radicalized flydubai co-pilot accused of stabbing his pilot in an attempted mid-flight hijacking planned to crash into an Israeli tower block in a 9/11-like attack, according to reports.The “lone wolf” attacker, Hamam al-Hammami, intended to murder pilot Smit Machhar and continue on the plane’s scheduled route from Dubai to Tel Aviv unnoticed before flying the plane into one of the Azrieli towers there, The Times of London reported.The towers are located just three blocks from Israel’s military headquarters, the Kirya, in the central part of the city.Hammami, 29, told investigators that he also considered approaching the Ben Gurion International Airport for a scheduled landing and then crashing into the terminal when it became impossible to intercept the plane, which is why he attacked Machhar when the flight was just 10 minutes from Israel, according to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.Israeli authorities believe he planned the attack long before he was hired by flydubai airline, which hired Hammami less than a year ago.He had co-piloted a flight to Tel Aviv earlier this year and plotted to hijack and crash the plane then but bailed, sources told Reuters.It’s not clear why he changed his mind, however, it’s believed that Hammami knew someone on board.Machchhar, who is recovering in an Abu Dhabi hospital, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Hammami had prayed in the cockpit just minutes earlier, then suddenly stabbed him in the head and elsewhere last Wednesday, Sept.

30.Machchhar, 38, believed the plane had taken a hit but realized he was being attacked by his co-pilot when “the blows kept coming, one after the other.”The attack caused the Boeing 737, which had 174 people onboard, to plummet some 17,000 feet in a matter of minutes as the pilot fought for his life.Israeli passengers realized that the plane was under attack and jumped into action, tackling and restraining Hammami and aiding the wounded pilot.Two pilots on the flig...