Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has issued a statement to correct media reports linking the copilot of a Flydubai flight to the Moroccan national carrier. The airline confirmed that the individual, whose identity has not been officially confirmed but has been reported as Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national, completed a three-month theoretical training course at Royal Air Maroc in 2025. This training was a preliminary step toward possible employment, but his candidacy was rejected at the end of that period.
The clarification counters media accounts that described a longer association with the Moroccan flag carrier. A LinkedIn profile bearing the copilot's name had listed him as joining Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 and leaving in January 2026. However, Royal Air Maroc frames the relationship as training alone, not employment. This distinction is crucial as it feeds into a wider investigation into an incident on a Flydubai flight.
The incident occurred on Flight FZ1073, which departed Dubai for Tel Aviv carrying 174 people, mostly Israeli. About two and a half hours into the flight, over Saudi airspace, the Boeing 737 made a sharp turn and plunged. Flight-tracking data showed the plane dropping more than 17,000 feet in roughly two minutes before stabilizing. Inside the cockpit, the copilot had wounded the captain, Indian national Smit Machchhar, with the crash axe.
The captain, lying injured on the floor, managed to reach the door and unlock it, allowing passengers and crew into the cockpit. An Israeli passenger, Tali Manes, had first raised the alarm after hearing heavy blows against the door and shouting that someone was being stabbed. Her husband Tzvika and three other men rushed in to assist. One of these passengers, Hayun, a 50-year-old plumber, has been hailed as a hero for subduing the copilot.
Hayun found one pilot down and the copilot trying to destroy the instruments to disable the aircraft. He grabbed the attacker, put him in a chokehold, and pulled him out with help from another passenger. Hayun then briefly returned to the controls and pulled up the unmanned steering column to level the plane. He attributed his actions to watching a television show about air crashes.
Control of the aircraft was then passed to two off-duty pilots on board, including a British man named James, who guided the jet to a landing in Tabuk, in northwestern Saudi Arabia. Both pilots were hospitalized before being transferred to Abu Dhabi. The transponder had been switched to code 7500, signaling unlawful interference.
The UAE holds jurisdiction over the investigation because the aircraft is registered there and flies under its flag. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the copilot had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination" and appeared suicidal. The incident has sparked a multi-country investigation, with Israel expected to join.
Key points
- Royal Air Maroc clarifies that the Flydubai copilot only attended a training course in 2025 and was not employed.
- The copilot's actions led to a significant incident on Flight FZ1073, involving a sharp turn and a drop of over 17,000 feet.
- Passengers and crew, including Hayun, acted heroically to subdue the copilot and regain control of the aircraft.
