Co-pilot 'removed from Oman Air training over concerns about radical views'
The suspected attacker, Hamam al Hammami, 29, was allegedly taken out of pilot training before later transferring to another role at the national airline
The co-pilot accused of attacking his captain with an axe onboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv allegedly left Oman Air’s pilot-training programme after concerns were raised about his extremist ideology.
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The suspect was forced to leave flight training with Oman Air because of concerns over his radical views, before subsequently transferring to another position at the national airline, sources have told CNN.
A LinkedIn profile belonging to a man named Hamam al-Hammami, who has been identified as the co-pilot accused in the attack, states that he worked for Oman Air for seven years before leaving in February 2025.
The profile says he then joined Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc in June 2025, before leaving the company in January 2026.
The page made no mention of al-Hammami working for Flydubai.
However, one source confirmed to CNN that the account is understood to belong to the Flydubai pilot involved in Wednesday's attack. The LinkedIn page has since been deleted.
Read more: Flydubai co-pilot attacked captain 'with axe' in cockpit in hijack 'terror' bid, UAE claims
Read more: Co-pilot accused of stabbing captain had been barred from flying by Oman, sources claim
Omani national Hamam al Hammami who is accused of attacking his captain with an axe onboard flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, completed a distance-learning course in aviation management at Buckinghamshire New University.
The university stressed that he “did not undertake any pilot training at the University.”
Al Hammami was reportedly barred from flying for Oman’s national airline, Oman Air, due to concerns that he was developing extremist views, prior to working for the UAE-based airline.
“Our thoughts are with the injured pilot, crew and passengers involved in this incident,” said a spokesperson for Buckinghamshire New University.
According to the university’s website, its aviation management courses “look into the background operations, logistics, security and management of the aviation industry”.
Al Hammami was co-piloting a flight with 182 people on-board when he reportedly started stabbing pilot Captain Smit Machchhar.
Machchhar has been hailed as a hero for managing to open the cockpit door despite the ongoing attack and alerting the crew to the situation.
The passengers and crew were able to subdue al Hammami whilst the plane plummeted from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet (10,000 metres to 5,100 metres) in about a minute.
The aircraft was then able to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Investigators are working to establish whether al Hammami acted alone, or whether he has connections with any extremist groups.
In a post on X, United Arab Emirates (UAE) senior adviser Anwar Gargash branded Wednesday’s attack “a dangerous terrorist act”.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said al Hammami had undergone “Islamist radicalisation”, but did not give evidence.