New details are emerging about the background of the Omani copilot accused of attempting to crash Flydubai Flight FZ1073, revealing an extensive international aviation history spanning Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Oman, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates — and raising major questions about how he ultimately made it into the cockpit of a passenger jet bound for Israel.

The suspect has been identified by sources familiar with the investigation as 29-year-old Omani national Hamam al-Hamami. UAE and Flydubai authorities have not formally released his identity.

Al-Hamami is currently being held in the United Arab Emirates, where Israeli Shin Bet investigators are also reportedly participating in the investigation into the attempted terrorist attack.

One of the most significant revelations concerns his previous aviation career in Oman.

According to reports citing investigators familiar with the case, al-Hamami was at one point barred from flying in Oman amid concerns over ideological radicalization. Authorities have not yet disclosed precisely when that decision was made, what triggered it, or whether the information was subsequently shared with other countries or airlines.

A since-deleted LinkedIn profile bearing his name indicated that he worked for Oman Air for approximately seven years, from February 2018 until February 2025, eventually serving as a first officer.

The emerging timeline shows that his international travels began years earlier.

Al-Hamami reportedly received an Australian student visa in 2014 and arrived in Australia the following year, studying there until 2017.

Australian authorities have now reopened scrutiny of his activities and associations during that period. A joint counterterrorism team involving the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation is reviewing his history in the country.

His Australian student visa was canceled in 2019, but available information indicates that the cancellation was not related to terrorism, security or character concerns. Rather, he was reportedly no longer enrolled in studies and therefore no longer met the conditions of the visa.

Investigators are now attempting to determine when his alleged radicalization began.

Another newly confirmed piece of his background involves New Zealand.

New Zealand Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Johnson told Reuters that al-Hamami entered the country on November 30, 2018, and departed on May 23, 2019 — a stay of 175 days.

He held a six-month student visa and underwent part of his pilot training in New Zealand on behalf of a British company that is no longer operating there.

New Zealand authorities are now reviewing records connected to his stay and aviation training.

Al-Hamami also pursued academic studies in Britain. Buckinghamshire New University confirmed that a person by that name completed a distance-learning aviation management course, graduating in 2023. The university stressed that the program was academic and did not involve practical flight training.

After leaving Oman, al-Hamami attempted to join Morocco’s Royal Air Maroc.

The airline says he underwent approximately three months of theoretical training during 2025 as part of its recruitment process but never operated a Royal Air Maroc flight. His candidacy was ultimately rejected.

He later joined Flydubai.

Precisely what Flydubai knew about his previous employment, the reported concerns in Oman and the unsuccessful recruitment process in Morocco remains unclear.

Flydubai’s publicly described recruitment process for first officers includes psychometric testing, interviews, simulator assessments, medical examinations, verification of aviation documents and additional suitability evaluations.

International aviation authorities have also increasingly focused on the danger posed by “insider threats,” with enhanced background-checking and information-sharing standards introduced in recent years.

Yet on September 30, al-Hamami was sitting in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 MAX 8 carrying passengers from Dubai to Israel.

According to UAE prosecutors, the copilot attacked the captain with an emergency axe and attempted to seize control of the aircraft.

The plane plunged more than 16,000 feet in just over half a minute during the terrifying struggle.

Despite being wounded, the captain managed to open the cockpit door. Israeli passengers and crew members then stormed the cockpit and subdued the attacker, reportedly restraining him with a headset cable.

Additional pilots aboard the aircraft subsequently took control and safely landed the plane in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

The United Arab Emirates has officially classified the incident as an attempted terrorist attack.

The growing list of countries now reviewing al-Hamami’s history is likely to intensify scrutiny over whether warning signs existed long before he joined Flydubai — and, most critically, whether information about those warnings failed to follow him as he moved between airlines and countries.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)