FlyDubai axe attacker Hammam al-Hammami was barred from flying by Oman Air over radical views BEFORE FlyDubai hired him without checking
From the Newshound archive · first published 4 October 2026.
The injured Omani co-pilot, who Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said had undergone "Islamic radical indoctrination" and was suicidal, with Israel probing whether the attack was state-sponsored.
Hammam al-Hammami, 29, the Omani co-pilot accused of attacking captain Smit Machchhar with a crash axe and trying to crash a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv Boeing 737 into Israel, had been removed from pilot training at Oman Air after surveillance found him visiting radical websites. FlyDubai hired him without contacting Oman Air to check his background. Australian and British security agencies are now investigating his time studying in both countries.
Al-Hammami earned a distance-learning aviation management degree from Buckinghamshire New University in 2023, which confirmed he received no flight training there.
Three years before the attack, al-Hammami posted cockpit footage zooming in on Israeli airline El Al planes, ending with a photo of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
