New Zealand police have opened an investigation after confirming that the flydubai co‑pilot, Hamam al‑Hammami, was in the country on a student visa from 30 November 2018 to 23 May 2019 to complete flight training for a UK‑based company that no longer operates there. Police are now reviewing his activities during that period.
On 30 September, passengers and crew thwarted an alleged hijacking attempt by al‑Hammami, a 29‑year‑old Omani national, on a flight bound for Tel Aviv carrying 182 people. He reportedly used a crash axe and stabbed the pilot mid‑air, an act the United Arab Emirates prosecutor described as a “terrorist attack.” Israeli officials suspect he had originally planned a similar assault in July but postponed it.
Australia has also launched an inquiry after learning that al‑Hammami spent roughly two years as a student in the country until 2017, leaving an engineering degree unfinished at RMIT University in Melbourne. A deleted social‑media profile shows him in a selfie with teenagers in a Melbourne food court, and a deleted X account described his overseas years as “the golden years of my religious commitment” while claiming he became less observant after returning to Oman. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has called for a thorough investigation into his associations and potential extremist influences.
Captain Smit Machchhar, who also trained in New Zealand, reported a “big blow” to his head after al‑Hammami left his seat to pray. He unlocked the cockpit door, allowing passengers to overpower the co‑pilot. A reserve flydubai pilot then took control of the aircraft and landed it at a regional airport in north‑western Saudi Arabia, where al‑Hammami was detained by Saudi authorities.
