Oman reportedly banned flydubai terrorist from flying due to suspected extremism

The flydubai copilot who attempted to crash a plane full of Israelis earlier this week was previously banned from flying by Oman over concerns that he had been radicalized, a person familiar with the matter said.

Despite that, the Omani copilot still flew flydubai’s Dubai to Tel Aviv route, with several US media outlets on Friday naming him as Hamam al-Hammani, 29. On Wednesday, he stabbed the pilot and, according to witnesses, tried to crash the plane in an attempted terror attack.

It was not known if Muscat shared its concerns about the pilot with other countries or airlines, and the nature of his reported radicalization remained unclear. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s has said he “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination,” without elaborating.

US television networks CNN and ABC reported that Oman’s national airline removed the attacker from training over concerns about his extremist views, shifting him to another position at Oman Air. The ABC report, which cited senior intelligence and law enforcement officials, said he was found to be in possession of extremist material in 2024.

CNN said a since-deleted LinkedIn page with the name Hamam al-Hammani showed he worked at Oman Air for a seven-year period ending in February 2025, before starting at Morocco’s Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 and departing this January 2026. The network said the profile did not mention flydubai but said a source familiar with the matter confirmed it was his account, which also showed he studied at Buckinghamshire New University in England.

The report quoted a source at the university telling CNN that he studied remotely at the school for three years, graduating in 2023 with a degree in aviation management.

CNN said that al-Hammani’s X and Instagram accounts were also deleted, with the latter sharing two videos after the attack — one of which included footage of Israeli planes that were filmed from other cockpits, before ending with photos of former al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Jordanian triple agent Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who in 2009 carried out a deadly suicide bombing targeting a CIA base in Afghanistan on behalf of the jihadist group.

The other post reportedly included an AI image of Islam’s three holiest cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, while a defiant poem was recited in the background.

CNN, which said both posts were also shared on his LinkedIn before it was deleted, additionally reported that al-Hammani was born to an Omani father and Syrian mother in the United Arab Emirates, where he had lived for several years.

The Boeing 737 flight was carrying 174 passengers, almost all of them Israelis, when the copilot stabbed the pilot in an apparent attempt to crash the plane, which plunged nearly 14,000 feet (4,267 meters) in less than 30 seconds.

Captain Smit Machchhar, covered in blood, managed to open the cockpit door, allowing Israeli passengers to charge inside to overpower the copilot and tie him up and stabilize the plane, while other pilots who were on board brought the plane to an emergency landing in Tabuk in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Israeli passengers were flown home on a special repatriation flight from Saudi Arabia — which has no diplomatic ties with Israel — while Machchhar and the attacking copilot were returned to the UAE, Machchhar for medical treatment and the attacker for interrogation.

According to ABC, the suspect was “cooperating” investigators, suggesting to them that he intended to crash the plane in Israel.

Flydubai said earlier in the day that a full official investigation was underway into the incident.

“It is important that we allow this process to establish the facts,” Chief Executive Officer Ghaith Al Ghaith said in a statement.

First repatriation flight touches down in Israel

Also Friday, officials from the Emirati airlines told Channel 12 news they want to resume services to Israel, but Israeli officials have forced it to cancel flights until further notice.

The officials asserted that flydubai was ready to return to Israel on Saturday.

The report did not provide a response from officials in Jerusalem.

The UAE canceled all flights to Israel following the attack, complicating travel for hundreds of passengers who fly between the countries on a typical day. As a result, Israeli airlines launched repatriation flights, the first of which landed in Tel Aviv just after 1 a.m.

The airport listed carriers Arkia and Israir with flights scheduled to arrive from Dubai early Saturday. El Al was expected to fly passengers from Dubai to Israel on Sunday.

Dubai has been a popular destination for Israelis since Israel and the UAE established ties in 2020 as part of the Trump administration’s Abraham Accords to normalize ties between Israel and Arab countries.