From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 4, 2026
Australia launches terror probe into flydubai copilot after revelation he studied in country
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Australian security agencies have launched an investigation after it was revealed that the terrorist who tried to bring down a flydubai flight to Israel had studied in Australia, reports say.
“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 Austrailian Federal Police spokesperson tells The Guardian.
“An update will be provided at an appropriate time,” they say.
Sources tell ABC news that copilot Hamam al-Hammami was issued a student visa in 2014 and studied in Australia between 2015 and 2017, at which point he left the country.
The outlet says al-Hammami’s student visa was canceled in 2019 because he was not enrolled in any courses, and that the Joint Counter Terrorism Team probe will examine whether the pilot was radicalized in Australia.
CNN reported yesterday that a since-deleted LinkedIn page with the name Hamam al-Hammami showed he studied remotely at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK. The report quoted a source at the university telling CNN that he studied at the school for three years, graduating in 2023 with a degree in aviation management.
The Times of Israel Community.