SYDNEY, October 6, 2026 — Australia’s counterterrorism authorities have opened a formal investigation into the past of the Omani co-pilot detained in the United Arab Emirates over the alleged attempted hijacking of flydubai flight FZ1073, as New Zealand also announced it would examine the suspect’s time on its soil.
The Australian Federal Police said on Monday that a joint counterterrorism team — bringing together federal and state police and the country’s domestic intelligence agency — is examining the man’s links to Australia, where he studied roughly a decade ago.
“The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team is investigating the man’s links to Australia,” the AFP said in a statement, according to the national broadcaster ABC Australia. New Zealand’s police agency separately confirmed the co-pilot had spent time in New Zealand and said its own authorities would investigate.
Student years in Melbourne
The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT) confirmed that the suspect was once enrolled there but did not complete an engineering qualification, reports said. Australian media reported he received a student visa in 2014, arrived in 2015 to begin his course, and left the country in 2017. His visa was cancelled in 2019 after authorities confirmed he was no longer enrolled, according to those reports.
The co-pilot has been identified by Reuters and Associated Press sources as Hamam al-Hammami, 29, an Omani national. He remains in UAE custody following the September 30 incident aboard the Dubai–Tel Aviv flight carrying 174 passengers and eight crew members.
Axe attack in the cockpit
UAE authorities say the co-pilot attacked the captain with an emergency crash axe before attempting to seize control of the aircraft. The plane plunged thousands of metres in less than a minute before the injured captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to overpower the attacker. An off-duty reserve pilot on board then landed the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Two off-duty pilots later helped bring the jet down safely, and the injured captain — identified by multiple reports as an Indian national with years of command experience — was treated first in Saudi Arabia before being airlifted to the UAE.
Radicalisation concerns preceded the attack
The investigation into the suspect’s past is widening on several fronts. The Associated Press reported, citing officials, that the co-pilot had been barred from flying with Oman’s national airline over concerns about his extremist views. Royal Air Maroc told AP he completed a three-month theoretical training period in 2025 but was not selected for employment. He later joined flydubai.
Reuters reported, citing Israeli officials, that the suspect told UAE interrogators he had looked for airlines serving Tel Aviv before applying to flydubai. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that the suspect had undergone what he called “Islamist radicalization” and vowed that whoever sent him would “pay a very heavy price.”
Investigators have not yet publicly confirmed a link to any militant group, and officials say the probe is continuing. Flydubai has declined to comment beyond its earlier statements, saying the investigation remains underway.
