Australia probing flydubai copilot, who studied at a Melbourne university

Hamam al-Hammami reportedly visited radical mosques and browsed extremist websites while in country, with intel services said to hold file on him

Australian police said on Sunday that authorities there were investigating the “links to Australia” of the Omani flydubai copilot who attacked the captain on a flight full of Israelis to Tel Aviv.

Hamam al-Hammami, 29, the copilot of flydubai flight 1073, which took off from Dubai on Wednesday, attacked the pilot with an emergency crash axe and, according to witnesses, tried to crash the plane in an attempted terror attack.

Omani authorities have not commented. Flydubai has said a full investigation is under way.

Two sources briefed on the investigation said the copilot studied at a university in Melbourne, the capital of the Australian state of Victoria. Local media reports said he studied at RMIT University, which told Reuters it had no comment.

“The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (VIC JCTT), comprising the AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO, can confirm it is investigating the man’s links to Australia. An update will be provided at an appropriate time,” an Australian Federal Police (AFP) spokesperson said, referring to the Australian Security Intelligence Organization.

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that al-Hammami had allegedly visited radical mosques and extremist websites while in Australia, citing two people familiar with the investigation.

Hamam al-Hammami, the copilot who tried to bring down a flydubai flight to Israel in a terrorist attack on September 30, 2026, in an undated image from his deleted LinkedIn profile.

Australian intelligence services held a file on the individual, according to the FT.

Reuters could not immediately verify the FT report. The government of Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that the pilot “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” and Israeli officials have said they were looking into links with terrorist organizations and enemy states.

Israeli regulations reportedly say that pilots from states that lack diplomatic relations with Israel are prohibited from landing in the country. A law stating that lists of flight crews would be sent to Israeli security agencies passed more than three years ago, according to the Haaretz newspaper.