The co-pilot accused of\u00a0attacking the captain of an Israel-bound flight\u00a0with an axe and trying to seize the controls was an Omani national who had been barred from flying on his country\u2019s airline because of concerns about extremist views, officials said Saturday.<\/p>\n
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The co-pilot has been identified as Hamam al-Hammami, according to three people with knowledge of the situation, including a Gulf and a Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.<\/p>\n
The United Arab Emirates, which is leading the investigation, said the co-pilot attacked with the cockpit\u2019s crash axe and tried to take control of the\u00a0plummeting plane\u00a0in a \u201cterrorist attack\u201d Wednesday. His actions nearly crashed the flight with 182 people on board before\u00a0passengers and others rushed in\u00a0and subdued him.<\/p>\n
The new details raised questions about how thoroughly FlyDubai vets potential employees, and how the co-pilot\u2019s presence on a flight filled with Israeli passengers got past Israel\u2019s strict security protocols.<\/p>\n
Israel has said it has agreements with foreign carriers to keep pilots of nations without diplomatic ties from flying there. Israel and Oman don\u2019t have formal diplomatic relations. The UAE government has earned a reputation for effective measures against extremist activities but has bristled in the past over criticism of\u00a0security lapses.<\/p>\n
The incident occurred at a sensitive time for Israel, a week before the anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza. It also came weeks before a highly contentious election in which security, and Oct. 7 security failures, have been central issues.<\/p>\n
FlyDubai hired the co-pilot after Oman Air barred him<\/h4>\n
Separately, a regional official and a person familiar with the matter said the co-pilot had been barred from flying by Oman over concerns that he had adopted extremist views. The official said he was moved to an administrative job at Oman Air. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation. They gave no details about the alleged extremist views.<\/p>\n
The co-pilot was later hired by UAE-based airline FlyDubai, the person said. It wasn\u2019t immediately clear to what extent the co-pilot was vetted. The Gulf diplomat said he had undergone standard security checks before being hired, but it appears that the checks focused on whether he had been convicted of criminal charges and didn\u2019t go deeper into examining his background for potential signs of radicalization.<\/p>\n
The regional official also said security agencies from four regional countries were working to establish the co-pilot\u2019s motives, aided by the United States and other Western governments. The Gulf diplomat said investigations were trying to establish whether the co-pilot acted alone or \u201chas any connection with any extremist groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
The regional official said the co-pilot was born in the UAE and his mother is Syrian. He obtained Omani nationality from his father, also an Omani national. The regional official also said the co-pilot had traveled to Syria, with no details.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said the co-pilot had undergone \u201cIslamist radicalization,\u201d but provided no evidence. There was no immediate comment Saturday from Israel\u2019s government.<\/p>\n
A social media account was deleted the day of the flight<\/h4>\n
A FlyDubai spokesperson said in an email that the airline could not comment beyond its official statements and acknowledged \u201cthere are many questions at this stage.\u201d There was no immediate comment from Oman Air, and Oman\u2019s government has said nothing publicly in response to repeated questions since the incident.<\/p>\n
In a statement to The Associated Press, Royal Air Maroc, Morocco\u2019s national carrier, said the co-pilot \u201ccompleted a three-month theoretical training period with the airline in 2025, as part of the pre-employment process. At the end of this training period, his application was not selected for employment.\u201d There were no details.<\/p>\n
Keith Coles, a spokesperson for Buckinghamshire New University in England, told the AP that al-Hammami previously completed a distance-learning course in aviation management there but \u201cdid not undertake any pilot training.\u201d There were no details on the timing.<\/p>\n
Little else was immediately known about the co-pilot\u2019s background. His Instagram account was active until the day of the flight and then deleted.<\/p>\n
Captain and passengers have described drama on board<\/h4>\n
Airlines are generally required to carry crash axes in the cockpit that could be used in an emergency to break open a window to escape or break open a panel to access a fire.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0captain, who was badly wounded, has said he used his remaining energy while being attacked to unlock the cockpit door, allowing people who had noticed alarming sounds to come in, tackle the co-pilot and stabilize the flight while passengers screamed.<\/p>\n
The plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a descent so extreme that part of the rudder was torn away, and aviation experts have marveled that it didn\u2019t crash. FlyDubai has said crew traveling on the plane helped to stabilize it and land. They haven\u2019t been publicly identified.<\/p>\n
Both the captain and co-pilot were later taken to the UAE. The passengers, most of them Israeli, flew home later Wednesday on a separate plane, to cheers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#FlyDubai #copilot #cockpits #crash #axe #seizing #control #flight #barred #Oman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The co-pilot accused of\u00a0attack… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[353,8743,9022,9020,3659,4334,148,1757,9019,1424,9021],"class_list":["post-5930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-airline-industry","tag-axe","tag-barred","tag-cockpits","tag-control","tag-copilot","tag-crash","tag-flight","tag-flydubai","tag-oman","tag-seizing"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/p>\n