Hamam al-Hammami, the co-pilot suspected of attacking a colleague with an ax and attempting to seize control of a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai flight, was removed from a previous job at Oman’s national airline last year over concerns regarding his extremist views. The Wednesday incident prompted an emergency diversion to Saudi Arabia and has triggered intense scrutiny over aviation background checks.
According to regional officials and Saudi state media, the suspect is an Omani citizen born in the United Arab Emirates to an Omani father and a Syrian mother who spent several years living in the UAE. Without naming the suspect directly, the UAE’s attorney-general described the cockpit assault as an attempted terrorist act executed with a standard crash ax required on commercial passenger aircraft. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Thursday that the co-pilot was believed to have undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination.”
Social Media Activity and Radical Propaganda
Hours after the mid-air incident, a LinkedIn profile and an Instagram account belonging to al-Hammami published identical posts featuring extremist imagery and cockpit footage. The first post included a video filmed inside the cockpit of a Boeing 737 Max—the aircraft that diverted to Saudi Arabia was a Flydubai 737 Max 8—showing aircraft from Israeli airlines El Al and Arkia. Geolocated footage captured at Dubai International Airport displayed the flight number OMA624 and the date October 11, 2023, matching a regular Dubai-to-Muscat route from his time at Oman Air. The video concluded with photographs of deceased al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, a suicide bomber responsible for a 2009 attack against CIA personnel in Afghanistan. A second post featured an AI-generated image of Islam’s three holiest sites connected by a glowing trail, accompanied by a poem.
Employment History and Airline Vetting
Employment records and regional diplomatic sources reveal a troubled professional trajectory across multiple carriers. A LinkedIn resume indicated that al-Hammami worked at Oman Air for seven years before leaving in February 2025, subsequently joining Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 and departing in January 2026. A regional diplomat confirmed that he was removed from flight training with Oman Air due to radical views before being reassigned to a different role within the airline. Royal Air Maroc stated that the suspect trained with the airline for three months in 2025 as part of the pre-employment process but he was not selected. Records from Buckinghamshire New University in England confirm he graduated with an aviation management degree via distance learning in 2023 without undertaking pilot training through the institution. An Israeli official noted he had been employed by Flydubai for only eight months prior to the attack.
Broader Digital Footprint and Investigation
An analysis of al-Hammami’s deleted Twitter account revealed deeply religious and misogynistic commentary, including a February 2022 post detailing his mother’s difficulties in finding a prospective wife willing to wear a niqab and cease working after marriage. Investigators continue to probe how these red flags evaded detection during pre-employment screenings.
Aviation authorities and the involved airlines face mounting pressure regarding pilot vetting protocols as the investigation into the diversion and cockpit assault proceeds.
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