British-educated FlyDubai co-pilot had been flagged over extremism concerns

The co-pilot of an Israel-bound FlyDubai aircraft who attacked the captain with a cockpit axe had previously been barred from flying by his home country over extremism concerns, officials revealed. The mid-air struggle on Wednesday forced the plane carrying 182 people into a drastic, uncontrolled descent before passengers and crew intervened.

According to Associated Press reporting, three separate sources identified the attacker as Hamam al-Hammami. The chaos erupted roughly two-and-a-half hours after flight FZ 1073 departed Dubai on Wednesday morning. Captain Smit Machchhar recalled that the co-pilot had asked to pray in the cockpit. While the captain looked forward out of respect, the co-pilot launched a brutal surprise assault using a crash axe — a heavy emergency tool stored in the flight deck to break through fuselage panels or windows.

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The blows battered the back of the captain's head, causing the aircraft to plummet wildly from 33,000 to 17,000 feet in approximately one minute. Despite severe wounds, the bloodied Indian captain managed to unlock the armored cockpit door. Passengers, including Israeli nationals Yaniv Hayoun and Asaf Rajuan, rushed forward, put the attacker in a chokehold, dragged him out, and helped stabilize the plunging jetliner. The emergency descent was so severe that part of the aircraft's rudder was torn away before it safely diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Investigations across multiple jurisdictions revealed alarming gaps in background screening. A regional official and a person familiar with the matter stated that al-Hammami had been barred from flight operations by Oman due to adopted extremist views, subsequently being moved to an administrative desk job at Oman Air. Despite this red flag, he was later hired by UAE-based FlyDubai. A Gulf diplomat noted that standard pre-employment checks examined only past criminal convictions rather than digging deeper into radicalization signs.

Educational and training records showed that al-Hammami maintained various ties to aviation programs abroad. Buckinghamshire New University confirmed that he completed a distance-learning course in aviation management, though a university spokesperson emphasized that he undertook no pilot training at the institution. Additionally, Morocco's national carrier, Royal Air Maroc, stated that al-Hammami completed a three-month theoretical training period with them in 2025 as part of an application process, but his application was ultimately rejected.

The incident also exposed severe cross-border friction regarding security protocols. While UAE authorities shared passenger and crew lists with Israel ahead of the flight, Israeli agencies failed to flag the Omani co-pilot, even though Israel maintains agreements with foreign carriers to restrict pilots from nations lacking diplomatic ties from flying into the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radicalization,” while regional security agencies from four countries, aided by the United States and Western governments, launched coordinated inquiries into his motives. No direct ties to militant groups had been uncovered in the initial aftermath.

Following the attack, injured Captain Machchhar received hospital visits from Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and spoke via video calls with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who praised the pilot's extraordinary courage under fire. Most passengers, predominantly Israeli holidaymakers, returned home on a separate flight later on Wednesday.

As international investigators continue probing the co-pilot's background, travel patterns to Syria, and digital footprint — including a deleted Instagram account, aviation security experts have highlighted the inherent limits of cross-border vetting systems. Further updates are expected as multi-national security probes progress and regional aviation authorities review cockpit security and pilot screening mandates.