PHOTOS: Dubai Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan visits the Flydubai flight FZ1073 pilot in hospital!

According to Aviation 24/7.....

Flydubai Flight FZ1073 Omani co-pilot, identified as Hamam Al Hammami who stabbed Captain Smit Machchhar mid-flight and sent the Boeing 737 into a catastrophic, near-vertical plunge. 

Al Hamami launched a surprise axe attack on the captain and threw the aircraft into a violent dive - losing over 16,000 feet in roughly a minute - in a attempt to crash the plane. 

Severely wounded, Captain Machchhar managed to crack open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to storm the flight deck, overpower the co-pilot, and pull the aircraft out of its dive with mere seconds to spare. Al Hamami worked for a short time for Oman Air. 

Surveillance by the Omani government discovered that he was visiting frequently radical websites. Oman Air then transferred him to an office job. He was later fired from Oman Air for having "extremist views". 

He worked at Oman Air and left in February 2025. 

Then joined Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 and left in January 2026. Al Hamami moved to Dubai, and FlyDubai hired him. 

He was at flydubai for only 8 months. The pilot suspected of having attacked another pilot aboard a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight on Wednesday was removed from a previous job at Oman's national airline last year following concerns about his extremist views, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Passengers who were on the Flydubai aircraft bound for Israel from the UAE are greeted by friends and family as they arrive at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on September 30.

Ammar Awad/Reuters

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar has been hailed as a hero for saving passengers after he was stabbed by his colleague in an alleged attempt to crash a Flydubai plane on Wednesday.

Israel Foreign Ministry/Reuters

Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum visited the FlyDubai pilot, Captain Smit Machchha in the hospital and shared the photos online, which he captioned:

During a visit to Captain Smit Machchhar… the flydubai pilot who embodied the highest degrees of courage, responsibility, and care for human life. From us, and from the leadership of the nation, he has our full appreciation and praise. We are proud that he is part of our team… part of the story of our nation… and part of what the UAE stands for… a nation of compassion… a nation of peace… and a nation of life.

Terrorist images found on Flydubai suspect’s social media.