Al-Qaeda calls for copycat plane attacks after Flydubai cockpit assault

Supporters of Al-Qaeda have called for copycat attacks against US and Israeli passenger planes, praising the recent attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight by its co-pilot.

The threat appeared in the latest edition of al-Bayan, an Arabic-language weekly online publication launched in July by supporters of the terrorist group. The article compared the cockpit assault on 30 September to the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.

"The war isn't over yet," the publication warned, alongside images of a plane hitting the Twin Towers and graphics referencing the Flydubai flight. It added that passenger jets carrying "Zionists, Americans and all the other infidels... are still hovering in the skies and can be targeted."

The call to action comes as investigators in the United Arab Emirates try to determine whether the Omani co-pilot, 29-year-old Hamam al-Hammami, was directly linked to Al-Qaeda or acting alone.

What happened on Flight FZ1073?

The incident occurred on Wednesday, 30 September, aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, which was carrying 182 passengers and crew.

While in the air, al-Hammami allegedly attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit's emergency crash axe and attempted to seize control to crash the aircraft. The plane entered a steep plunge, falling thousands of feet before passengers and off-duty crew members managed to breach the cockpit and restrain the co-pilot.

Two other Flydubai pilots who were travelling on the plane took control of the flight, landing it safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

The UAE's Attorney-General, Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, said investigators have established that the co-pilot "attempted to carry out a terrorist act." Israeli officials have separately claimed that al-Hammami had undergone Islamist radicalisation and was indoctrinated with Al-Qaeda's ideology.

The digital trail

The case took a stranger turn about nine hours after the plot was foiled. While al-Hammami was already in custody, several posts appeared on his LinkedIn and Instagram accounts before they were deleted. It is not clear whether these posts were scheduled in advance or uploaded by an accomplice.

One post featured video clips taken inside a cockpit zooming in on a nearby Israeli plane, before showing images of the late Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed in a US drone strike in 2022.

The posts also referenced Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, an Al-Qaeda supporter and doctor who killed seven CIA officers and contractors in a 2009 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

Terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann told the New York Post that the reference to al-Balawi was highly striking because of the parallel career backgrounds. "It was a shock to everyone that someone from that kind of professional, successful background would blow himself up," Kohlmann said, comparing the Jordanian doctor to the professionally trained Omani pilot.

Before joining Flydubai eight months ago, al-Hammami had worked for Oman Air and Royal Air Maroc. Sources close to the investigation allege he was previously grounded by Oman Air after extremist material was found on his phone, though Omani authorities have not publicly confirmed this.

The US Transportation Security Administration said it was closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with international partners to assess the threat.