An Australian counterterrorism unit is investigating the links to Australia of the co-pilot accused of attacking his captain with an axe on flydubai flight FZ1073 and trying to take over the plane, police said on Sunday.
The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, made up of the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and the ASIO intelligence agency, was “investigating the man’s links to Australia”, an Australian Federal Police spokesperson said, Dawn reported, citing Reuters.
Studied in Melbourne
Two sources briefed on the investigation said the co-pilot had studied at a university in Melbourne. A third source said he studied at RMIT University about a decade ago. RMIT declined to comment.
The Financial Times reported that he had allegedly visited “mosques and extremist websites” while in Australia, and that Australian intelligence held a file on him. Reuters could not verify the report.
Who is the co-pilot?
Two sources have named the co-pilot as Hamam Al-Hamami, an Omani national. Israeli officials have not named him but say he is from Oman. The UAE and flydubai have not disclosed his identity.
He is in UAE custody. The UAE has not announced any formal charges, and it is not known whether he has a lawyer. The UAE’s prosecutor general said on Saturday that he attacked the captain with the cockpit’s emergency crash axe and tried to take control of the plane, calling it a “terrorist attack”.
“Like a vertical roller coaster”
The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, plunged 16,000 feet in about 30 seconds before it was levelled out. An aviation instructor who recreated the drop in a flight simulator for Reuters said it would have felt like a “vertical roller coaster”.
Passengers and crew overpowered the co-pilot. A reserve flydubai pilot on board then took the controls and landed the plane at Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia, where Saudi authorities detained the co-pilot before handing him to the UAE on Thursday.
Israel’s security row
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a review of the security of all foreign airlines flying to Israel. Israel has no diplomatic relations with Oman, and Netanyahu has claimed that pilots from such countries are not allowed to fly into Israel. It is not clear how the co-pilot came to be on the flight.
The incident has sparked a political row ahead of Israel’s October 27 election:
- Transport Minister Miri Regev denied responsibility, saying security for foreign airlines falls under the Mossad and Shin Bet
- Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the review a “sham investigation”, and said Netanyahu was “running away again”
- Gadi Eisenkot, a leading challenger, said the transport minister should have resigned
A 2024 state comptroller’s report found there was no clear division of responsibility for the security of foreign airlines in Israel.
Why it matters
The investigation is now spread across at least four countries: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Australia. What it finds about the co-pilot’s past, and how he was cleared to fly, will shape how airlines screen pilots around the world. Read our report on the UAE’s finding that the co-pilot attempted a terrorist act.
This article draws on reporting by Dawn and Reuters.
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