The Omani co-pilot accused of attacking the captain of a Flydubai passenger jet carrying more than 170 people toward Tel Aviv had already been barred from flying in Oman over concerns about extremist views, and he has told investigators his intent was to crash the aircraft in Israel, according to reports Friday.
The suspect has been identified as Hamam Alhamami, according to multiple reports including The Times of India and Al Arabiya English. He was transferred to United Arab Emirates custody from Saudi Arabia on Thursday and is now cooperating with authorities, ABC News reported, citing sources briefed on the investigation.
The attack unfolded Wednesday aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073, which departed Dubai bound for Tel Aviv. ABC News reported the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain in the cockpit before passengers intervened. The flight, carrying 182 people including eight crew members according to ABC, made a safe emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Warning Signs Were There
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, that Oman had barred Alhamami from flying over concerns that he had adopted radical ideological views. Despite that ban, he was later hired by Flydubai and allowed to serve as first officer on the route connecting the UAE and Israel.
ABC News added further detail on the earlier red flags, reporting that Alhamami had been identified as a security risk while working as a trainee for Oman Air in 2024 after extremist materials were discovered in his possession, according to senior intelligence and law enforcement officials. He was subsequently removed from flying but allowed to continue working for Oman Air in an administrative role, according to that report.
Investigators are now trying to determine how he was later permitted to fly for Flydubai and ultimately ended up in the cockpit of Wednesday's flight.
Al Arabiya English reported Friday that the co-pilot spent most of his time outside Oman, particularly in Syria, and that he had been influenced by extremist ideas during a previous stay there. The outlet, citing sources, said he left Oman after authorities barred him from flying.
It is not yet known whether Oman shared its concerns about Alhamami with other countries or airlines. UAE officials have not released the precise nature of his reported radicalization.
Netanyahu: 'Whoever Sent Him Will Pay'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel is looking into whether the co-pilot acted under anyone's direction, warning in a video statement released by his office that whoever was involved would pay a "heavy price," according to The Independent.
The UAE has called the attack terrorism. Anwar Gargash, an adviser to UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, praised the Indian pilot who was stabbed, saying he "embodied the meaning of courage," The Independent reported.
The captain has been identified in reporting as Indian national Smit Machchhar. Passenger video aired by Israel's Channel 12 news captured the terror inside the cabin, with people speaking in a mixture of Hebrew and English, calling for a doctor and a pilot, and shouting "take him out" and "he tried to crash the plane," according to The Independent.
The incident is under investigation by Saudi, Emirati and Israeli authorities, with the United States and Oman assisting. Investigators have not publicly said what object was used to stab the captain or whether it was carried aboard or taken from inside the aircraft.
Security Gaps in the Sky
Israel maintains some of the most stringent aviation security measures in the world, and the UAE points to its adherence to international aviation safety standards. Both sets of safeguards failed to stop a man flagged as a security risk from taking the controls of an Israel-bound jet.
Philip Baum, a visiting professor of aviation security at Coventry University in England, told ABC News that Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international passenger traffic, has built its reputation on safety in a volatile region. "They are very conscious of the fact, a little bit like Israel in many respects, that they cannot afford to have a terrorist attack happening on a flight out of there," Baum said.
Dave Komendat, a senior security adviser at risk management firm International SOS and former chief security officer for Boeing, told ABC that preflight screening of flight crews should generally "mirror very closely what a passenger goes through," though procedures vary around the world.
Israel's security protocols focus heavily on Israeli airlines and flights departing Ben-Gurion International Airport. ABC News noted that a potential weak point lies overseas, where procedures for Israel-bound flights vary and are harder for Israeli authorities to oversee.
Our Take
Read that timeline again. In 2024, Oman Air found extremist materials in this man's possession. He was pulled from flying — a bureaucratic half-measure that left him inside the airline in an administrative role. Then Oman barred him from flying entirely. Then Flydubai hired him anyway and put him in the right seat of a jet full of Israeli passengers.
Somewhere between Muscat and Dubai, every layer of vetting that is supposed to stand between radicalized men and a cockpit failed at once. That is not bad luck. That is a system that treated a documented security risk as a personnel matter.
Ask the obvious question: who shared what, with whom, and when? Because a man flagged for extremism does not simply walk onto the flight deck of an Israel-bound airliner unless someone either didn't ask or didn't care. The flying public deserves the answer.
