Australia’s Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team is investigating a flydubai co-pilot’s links to the country after he allegedly attacked a colleague in the cockpit during a flight bound for Tel Aviv. The team includes the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Now investigators are examining a journey that crossed borders, as passengers faced an emergency in the air.
Passengers and crew intervened to stop the co-pilot taking control of the plane, The Guardian reported. The flight diverted to Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia for an emergency landing. According to the ABC, it carried 174 people; The Guardian put the figure at 182. The outlets also reported different descent figures: the ABC said the plane plunged nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds, while The Guardian reported a drop of 16,625 feet in just over 30 seconds. Their accounts differ on both points.
The state’s investigation
The ABC identified the co-pilot as Hamam al-Hammami. He allegedly stabbed pilot Smit Machcharr with the cockpit’s crash axe and tried to seize control of the aircraft. The United Arab Emirates called the incident a “terrorist attack.” The UAE is leading a separate investigation, with officials saying several countries, including Israel, are taking part.
Sources close to the incident told the ABC that al-Hammami received an Australian student visa in 2014, studied in Australia from 2015 to 2017, then left. Authorities cancelled his visa in 2019. The ABC said it understood the cancellation followed his departure from a course, which made him ineligible for a student visa, rather than concerns about his character. Investigators will look at whether he was radicalised in Australia.
A source familiar with the case gave The Guardian a similar account of the visa and study history. The source, who wasn’t authorised to speak publicly, said al-Hammami arrived to begin a university course the year after receiving the visa, left in 2017 and lost his visa after authorities confirmed he was no longer enrolled.
The hiring chain
The ABC reported that al-Hammami was an Omani national and, citing officials, said Oman had barred him from flying on its airline because of concerns about extremist views. According to an official cited by The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal reported that Oman Air moved him to an administrative job before flydubai hired him. The ABC said the incident raised questions about flydubai’s vetting and how he could board a flight carrying Israeli passengers despite Israel’s security protocols.
Royal Air Maroc told the Associated Press that al-Hammami completed three months of theoretical training with the airline in 2025 as part of its pre-employment process. “At the end of this training period, his application was not selected for employment,” the airline said. Buckinghamshire New University said a student named Hamam al-Hammami completed a distance-learning aviation management course but “did not undertake any pilot training at the university.” The ABC quoted spokesperson Keith Coles giving the same account. The university gave no details about when the course took place.
A now-deleted LinkedIn profile reportedly said al-Hammami studied engineering at an Australian university, but Guardian Australia hasn’t verified which one. The ABC also reported that Israel has agreements with foreign carriers intended to stop pilots from countries without diplomatic ties from flying there. Israel and Oman don’t have formal diplomatic relations. Flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv were suspended until further notice.
The UAE government has a reputation for measures against extremist activities and has previously bristled at criticism of security lapses, the ABC reported. Flydubai said the circumstances remained under investigation and it couldn’t comment further. Philip Baum, visiting professor of aviation security at Coventry University, said, “In terms of aviation security itself, obviously we want to have as robust background checks as possible.” He added, “But there are huge limitations on doing background checks in any case, especially in cross-border checks.”