UAE prosecutors have officially classified last week's cockpit attack aboard a Flydubai flight bound for Israel as an attempted terrorist act, and the suspect behind it could now pay with his life. Authorities say 29-year-old Omani national Hamam Al Hammami is expected to face the death penalty once the investigation and legal proceedings are complete. Investigators are digging into whether he had foreign ties, tracing the roots of his extremist views, and scrutinizing exactly how he landed the job despite reportedly being barred from flying in his home country of Oman. According to emerging details, Al Hammami's plan allegedly went far beyond simply crashing the plane, with reports suggesting he intended to seize full control of the Boeing 737 and fly it directly into Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

The attack was stopped by the plane's own captain, Smit Machchhar, who is now being hailed as a hero for his actions in the chaotic moments after Al Hammami struck him with the cockpit's emergency crash axe. Wounded but still thinking clearly, Machchhar managed to open the cockpit door, giving passengers the opening they needed to rush in and overpower the attacker before he could carry out the plot. That split-second decision is credited with averting a disaster that could have killed more than 170 people on board, allowing the crew to divert the aircraft and land safely in Saudi Arabia instead. With Al Hammami now in custody facing the harshest punishment UAE law allows, the case has turned into a sprawling, multi-country investigation into exactly how a man already flagged as a security risk slipped through the cracks and back into a cockpit.