FlyDubai co-pilot lost earlier job for engaging with extremism

Myles Miller and Sara Gharaibeh, Bloomberg News on Oct 3, 2026

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The co-pilot who assaulted the commanding captain on the FlyDubai flight en route to Tel Aviv from Dubai previously flew aircraft for Oman Air before he was dismissed for engaging with what were considered radical views, according to people familiar with the situation.

Hamam al-Hammami, 29, had initially been identified by the Israeli government as an Omani citizen, but his exact name, age and work history wasn’t disclosed until this weekend. Saudi investigators have said the two pilots were transferred to Abu Dhabi, though little else is known about the state of the investigation.

Earlier on Saturday, investigators in the United Arab Emirates said the co-pilot attempted “to carry out a terrorist act” by attacking his colleague with an ax stored in the cockpit for emergencies and attempting to seize control of the aircraft.

The plane, which had more than 170 passengers on board, managed to land safely at a regional airport in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 30 after passengers and a reserve crew on board intervened to subdue al-Hammami and stabilize the aircraft.

The revelation about the co-pilot’s dismissal from Oman Air will likely raise questions about how al-Hammami was able to get a job at FlyDubai, the sister airline of Emirates Airline.

FlyDubai Chief Executive Officer Ghaith Al Ghaith previously said in a statement that there are still “many questions” about what happened aboard Flight FZ1073 and that it’s “important that we allow this process to establish the facts.”

The airline hasn’t released a manifest that would detail the identities of the passengers and crew.

The fact that an Omani pilot had been on board a Tel Aviv-bound aircraft had already raised concerns about a security loophole because Israel and Oman don’t have formal diplomatic ties, restricting their citizens’ access to the other country.

Israel’s Transportation Minister Miriam Regev called it a “a clear breach of the agreement” and asked its security agency Shin Bet to investigate, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told broadcaster Channel 12 on Saturday that a “great many things” are still unknown, including whether the attacker had a second citizenship. The attacker’s goals included harming relations between Israel and the UAE, he added.

The investigation into Flight FZ1073 is still seeking to determine possible motives behind the operation and any parties it might be linked to, UAE federal prosecutor Hamad Al Shamsi said in a statement Saturday on state-run WAM news agency.

Technical tests of physical and digital evidence are also being carried out, he said.