Australia Probes Flydubai Co-Pilot's Ties After Mid-Air Attack on Captain

Australian law enforcement and security agencies have launched an investigation into the background of a Flydubai co-pilot who allegedly attacked the captain of a passenger jet mid-flight, as authorities in multiple countries work to piece together the man's history and possible motivations.

The co-pilot is accused of assaulting the captain with a crash axe during a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on 30 September, an incident that forced the aircraft to divert to Saudi Arabia after passengers intervened. The Australian Federal Police confirmed to the BBC that it is examining "the man's links to Australia," a probe being conducted jointly with state police and the country's domestic security agency. The AFP indicated that further details would be released "at the appropriate time."

Although Australian officials have not publicly named the suspect, several international news organisations, including Reuters, CNN and The New York Times, have identified him as Hamam al-Hammami. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that the co-pilot is an Omani national.

According to sources familiar with the case who have spoken to Australian media, the co-pilot received a student visa in 2014 and subsequently studied in Australia between 2015 and 2017 before departing the country. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that his student visa was cancelled in 2019 on the grounds that he was no longer enrolled in a course, rendering him ineligible to hold it.

A central question for counter-terrorism investigators is whether the man was radicalised during his time in Australia, the ABC reported. The investigation will likely examine his activities, associations and any contacts he may have had with extremist networks during his years in the country, as well as any online activity that might shed light on his ideological trajectory.

The UAE's prosecutor general has confirmed that authorities are investigating the incident and are seeking to establish any possible motives. The prosecutor said the inquiry had revealed that the co-pilot attempted to carry out a "terrorist act," according to the country's state news agency.

The flight, which departed Dubai carrying more than 170 passengers bound for Israel, had been airborne for roughly two and a half hours when the co-pilot allegedly attacked the pilot with a crash axe. The United Arab Emirates prosecutor general has said the aircraft plunged approximately 17,000 feet (5,200 metres) during the assault.

Captain Smit Machchhar, the pilot flying the plane, has described the harrowing moments after the attack. He recounted lying injured on the floor when he realised the aircraft was descending and that he needed to act. "I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside," he said, explaining how he managed to let passengers into the cockpit. Two reserve pilots subsequently landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia.

Machchhar, an Indian national, was taken to a nearby hospital before being airlifted to Abu Dhabi, where he is reported to be in a stable condition. The co-pilot was arrested following the emergency landing and is being questioned by Saudi authorities, according to Netanyahu.

In the days since the attack, additional details have emerged regarding the co-pilot's employment history and education. US media outlets reported that while he was working for another airline, Oman Air, he was removed from flight training because of concerns about his radical views, and was instead assigned a different role at Oman's national carrier.

It has also come to light that from 2020, the co-pilot was enrolled in a distance-learning course offered by Buckinghamshire New University in the United Kingdom. The university confirmed that he graduated with a degree in aviation management in 2023 and added that he did not undertake any pilot training at the institution.

The Australian dimension of the investigation reflects a broader pattern in international counter-terrorism work, in which authorities retrace a suspect's movements across borders to identify when and where radicalisation may have occurred. Australia's security apparatus has previously examined whether individuals who spent time in the country later became involved in extremist activity abroad, and the findings of such inquiries can carry significant implications for visa vetting, student monitoring and intelligence-sharing arrangements.

Aviation security experts are also likely to scrutinise how an individual with a history of concerns raised by a previous employer was able to secure a position in a cockpit on a commercial passenger flight. The attack has raised fresh questions about vetting procedures for flight crew and the sharing of employment records between airlines and regulators, particularly in cases where concerns about an employee's beliefs have previously been flagged.

The incident has underscored the vulnerability of cockpit crews to attacks from within, and has been widely praised for the decisive response of passengers and reserve pilots who helped bring the aircraft safely to the ground. Investigators in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Australia are expected to continue coordinating as they seek to establish a full picture of the events leading up to the attack and the co-pilot's movements in the years beforehand.