An investigation has been launched into the alleged Flydubai hijacker’s hyperlinks to Australia after reviews emerged he might have studied at an area college.
The probe follows reviews figuring out Hammam Al Hammami, 29, because the co-pilot accused of making an attempt to hijack the plane on Wednesday.
Al Hammami, an Omani nationwide, allegedly significantly wounded Captain Smit Machchhar with an emergency axe stored within the cockpit earlier than making an attempt to take management of the Flydubai airplane sure for Tel Aviv.
Passengers and crew reportedly grappled with Al Hammami to regain management of the airplane, which had plummeted 14,000ft in simply 29 seconds.
A now-deleted LinkedIn profile seen by US media retailers CNN and ABC Information reportedly said that Al Hammami had studied engineering at an Australian college.
Every day Mail was not in a position to independently confirm the profile. The college was additionally not named publicly.
On Sunday, the Australian Federal Police confirmed to Every day Mail that it was investigating Al Hammami’s hyperlinks to Australia.
Organisations concerned within the investigation embrace the AFP’s Victorian counter-terrorism crew, Victoria Police and the Australian Safety Intelligence Organisation.
The Australian Monetary Evaluation reported {that a} supply accustomed to the case, who was not authorised to talk publicly, stated Al Hammami had been granted a pupil visa in 2014.
The visa reportedly ceased in 2019 after a routine verify discovered he had left Australia.
Media reviews have additionally claimed that Al Hammami studied remotely at a British college and hung out in Syria.
Earlier, Every day Mail reported Al Hammami had beforehand labored with Oman’s nationwide airline as a trainee in 2024 however was faraway from flying due to considerations that he might have been influenced by radical teams from time spent in Syria, in accordance with officers. He was then moved to an administrative job at Oman Air.
It had additionally been confirmed by a Gulf diplomat that Al Hammami had undergone commonplace safety checks earlier than being employed – but it surely appeared these checks centered on whether or not he had been convicted on felony expenses and did not go deeper into inspecting his background for indicators of radicalisation.
A separate investigation being led by the United Arab Emirates was working to ascertain whether or not Al Hammami acted as a ‘lone wolf or has any reference to any extremist teams’.
In line with state information company WAM, UAE lawyer basic Hamad Saif Al Shamsi stated ‘the co-pilot had tried to hold out a terrorist act’ and had ‘attacked the captain within the cockpit with the emergency axe and tried to take management of the plane’.
Airways are typically required to hold crash axes within the cockpit that might be utilized in an emergency to interrupt open a window or break open a panel to entry a fireplace.
The probe follows reviews figuring out Hammam Al Hammami (pictured) because the co-pilot accused of making an attempt to hijack the plane on Wednesday
The co-pilot (pictured) allegedly used the cockpit’s crash axe in his try and take management of the Flydubai airplane within the ‘terrorist assault’
A Flydubai spokesman in an electronic mail stated the airline couldn’t remark past its official statements and acknowledged ‘there are a lot of questions at this stage’
The axes are saved within the cockpits the place the crew can attain them, however they don’t seem to be accessible to passengers.
In his first public feedback on the incident, Flydubai chief government Ghaith Al Ghaith on Friday stated that the flight diverted after a ‘security incident’ contained in the cockpit.
A Flydubai spokesman in an electronic mail stated the airline couldn’t remark past its official statements and acknowledged ‘there are a lot of questions at this stage’.
Video footage on the time captured the terrifying screams and cries of passengers onboard Flight FZ1073 that plunged into an erratic descent.
The flight, carrying 182 folks from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was diverted to Tabuk in north-western Saudi Arabia for an emergency touchdown.
It transmitted a basic emergency sign utilizing a squawk code – four-digit numbers used for in-flight communication – of 7700 whereas making a U-turn over the border between the 2 international locations.
Whereas flying over Saudi Arabia, it briefly issued a code of 7500, signalling illegal interference or a hijacking.
Flydubai stated in a press release it was suspending flights to and from Israel because it investigated Wednesday’s incident.
