A FlyDubai co-pilot alleged to have attacked the captain on an Israel-bound flight with an axe before attempting to hijack the plane had completed an aviation course at a UK university.
Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national, is alleged to have hit Captain Smit Machchhar with the weapon on the flight to Tel Aviv and tried to seize the jet's controls. He was reportedly barred from flying in Oman over his extremist views.
University confirms course
Buckinghamshire New University, based in High Wycombe, has confirmed al-Hammami studied with them and had "previously completed a distance-learning course in aviation management". A spokesman added: "He did not undertake any pilot training at the University".
Al-Hammami's alleged actions nearly crashed the flight with 182 people on board on Wednesday before passengers and others rushed in and subdued him.
Terrorist incident
United Arab Emirates officials have called what happened a "terrorist" incident in a statement that cited the UAE attorney general. It also alleged that the co-pilot had tried to hijack the plane.
Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national, was stopped from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted extremist views and was moved to an administrative job at Oman Air, said a regional official.
Background and investigation
The co-pilot is understood to have been later hired by UAE-based airline FlyDubai and it is not immediately clear to what extent the co-pilot was vetted.
The regional official said al-Hammami was born in the UAE and his mother is Syrian but how he obtained Omani nationality was not immediately clear.
Security agencies from four regional countries are now working to establish the co-pilot's motives, aided by the United States and other Western governments.
Hamam al-Hammami did a three-year distance-learning course and graduated with a degree in aviation management in 2023 from Buckinghamshire New University, claimed a source. They stressed that al-Hammami did not take any pilot training at the school.
