A multi-agency Australian counterterrorism unit is investigating links to Australia of the co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073, who allegedly stabbed his captain and then attempted to hijack the plane, a police spokesperson said on Sunday.
The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team — which comprises federal police, Victorian state police and the ASIO intelligence agency — was “investigating the man’s links to Australia”, the Australian Federal Police spokesperson said.
Two sources briefed on the investigation said the co-pilot studied at a university in Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria. A third source said he studied at RMIT University around a decade ago. RMIT declined to comment.
The co-pilot of the flydubai flight FZ1073, which was bound for Israel from Dubai on Wednesday, attacked the pilot with an emergency crash axe, the United Arab Emirates’ prosecutor general said on Saturday, calling the incident a “terrorist attack”.
Flight FZ1073 would have felt like a “vertical roller coaster” when it plunged 16,000 feet in about 30 seconds before being levelled out and landing safely, according to an aviation instructor who recreated the descent in a flight simulator for Reuters.
Co-pilot in UAE custody
Two sources have said the co-pilot is an Omani national named Hamam Al-Hamami. Israeli officials have not named the co-pilot but said that he is from Oman. UAE authorities and flydubai have not publicly disclosed the co-pilot’s identity.
Reuters could not independently reach Al-Hamami, who is in UAE custody, for comment. The UAE has not announced any formal charges against him and it is not known if he has appointed legal counsel.
Oman has not commented on the incident.
Disaster on board flight FZ1073 was averted after passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot, who had attacked the captain in what Israeli officials said was an attempt to crash the plane carrying more than 170 passengers and crew. The UAE public prosecutor has said the co-pilot had attempted to take control of the plane.
Most of the passengers on board were Israeli nationals.
A reserve flydubai pilot travelling on the flight took control of the aircraft and landed it at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained by Saudi authorities and later transferred to the UAE on Thursday.
The Financial Times reported on Sunday that Al-Hamami had allegedly visited “mosques and extremist websites” while in Australia, citing two people familiar with the investigation. Australian intelligence services held a file on the individual, according to FT.
Reuters could not immediately verify the FT report. The government of Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
Netanyahu orders security review of flights
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a security review of international flights to Israel after the incident.
Netanyahu “has instructed the Head of the National Security Council, Shmuel Ben Ezra, to appoint an examiner to conduct a thorough review of all security aspects of foreign civil aviation to Israel”, a statement from the premier’s office said.
Israel does not have official diplomatic relations with Oman, and Netanyahu has also claimed pilots from such countries were not permitted to operate flights to Israel. It is not clear how the co-pilot came to be assigned to the flight to Tel Aviv.
Calls have mounted in Israel for an investigation into the security lapse.
Transport Minister Miri Regev rejected responsibility for the failure, saying security oversight for flights operated by foreign airlines falls under the remit of the Mossad and Shin Bet, Israel’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies.
A 2024 report by the state comptroller found there was no clear division of responsibility for the security of foreign airlines operating in Israel, and recommended that the government address the issue.
Israeli media has reported that pilots from countries hostile to Israel have repeatedly flown into the country in recent years.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid dismissed Netanyahu’s announcement of a security review as a “sham investigation”.
“The chain of failures that preceded the incident could have led to a disaster of historic proportions, and this is how an Israeli prime minister responds?” Lapid wrote on X.
“Just as Netanyahu escaped an investigation into the October 7 massacre, he is now running away again,” he added.
Gadi Eisenkot, a leading challenger to Netanyahu ahead of the October 27 election, wrote on X that “in a proper and functioning government, the minister of transportation would have submitted a letter of resignation last night”.
The post Australia probes flydubai co-pilot's links to the country, police say appeared first on Dawn – Home.
