Washington DC [US], October 3 : Hamam al-Hammami, the Omani co-pilot accused of attacking Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar aboard a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, had previously undergone pilot training with Oman Air but was moved to desk duties after government surveillance detected visits to radical websites before later joining Flydubai without formal vetting by the Omani government, CBS News reported, citing sources.
Surveillance conducted by the Omani government revealed that the suspect browsed radical websites during his initial pilot training phase, which prompted Oman Air to shift him away from active flying duties and place him into an office position.
According to one of the sources who spoke to CBS News, the pilot resigned from his role at Oman Air following the transfer to desk duty, departing the carrier around 2024.
Al Arabiya English, citing sources, reported on Friday that al-Hammami had previously been barred from flying in Oman over concerns about extremist views that were allegedly influenced by an earlier stay in Syria.
Sources further noted that at one juncture, al-Hammami shared a video featuring El Al Israeli Airlines aircraft in Dubai, concluding the clip with a photograph of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the prominent al-Qaeda leader eliminated in a US drone strike in 2022.
After relocating to Dubai, al-Hammami was hired by Flydubai in the absence of any formal background vetting through the Omani government, the sources informed CBS News.
While al-Hammami holds Omani citizenship, sources indicated he was not born within the nation, having spent the majority of his life abroad. They disclosed that his mother is of Syrian origin while his father is Omani, though the Omani government has yet to publicly verify his nationality.
Meanwhile, CNN reported, citing sources and an Israeli official, that the LinkedIn profile belonging to Hamam al-Hammami, identified as the Flydubai pilot connected to Wednesday's incident, featured two posts published roughly nine hours after the occurrence, containing cockpit footage of an El Al aircraft alongside imagery of al-Qaeda figures.
CNN quoted a source stating the individual previously worked for Royal Air Maroc, the Moroccan national carrier, while an Israeli official confirmed to the network that he had served with Flydubai for eight months leading up to the event.
A LinkedIn account under the name Hamam al-Hammami indicated a seven-year tenure with Oman Air ending in February 2025, a subsequent stint with Royal Air Maroc from June 2025 until January 2026, with no reference made to Flydubai. One source verified that the profile belongs to the pilot implicated in Wednesday's incident.
Both posts on the LinkedIn page appeared consecutively on Wednesday, approximately nine hours after the emergency unfolded. CNN reported that it remains uncertain who authored the posts or whether they had been pre-scheduled.
The initial post displayed video segments captured inside the cockpit of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The plane involved in Wednesday's diversion to Saudi Arabia was a similarly Flydubai 737 Max 8. One segment, geolocated by CNN to Dubai International Airport, shows the camera operator zooming in on an El Al aircraft, with the cockpit display revealing flight number OMA624 and the date October 11, 2023, a designation matching regular services between Dubai and Muscat.
The video concluded with portraits of Ayman al-Zawahiri, who succeeded Osama Bin Laden as leader of al-Qaeda, and Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, an al-Qaeda loyalist responsible for a 2009 suicide bombing that claimed nine lives, including seven American CIA officers and contractors.
The other post displayed an artificial intelligence-generated graphic portraying Islam's three holiest locations in Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem connected via an illuminated path, accompanied by an assertive poem recited in the background focused on defiance, fearlessness in the face of death, and the defence of dignity, according to CNN.
Additionally, al-Hammami's LinkedIn background noted that he pursued his studies at Buckinghamshire New University in England.
The security breach occurred on September 30 on a Flydubai service heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Authorities are probing whether Al-Hammami's alleged assault on Captain Machchhar inside the cockpit was a deliberate act of terror designed to crash the plane.
The struggle caused the jet to plunge roughly 16,000 feet in a span of two minutes as an emergency hijacking alert went out. Even after sustaining serious injuries, Captain Machchhar fought back and succeeded in unlocking the cockpit entrance. Crew personnel and passengers rushed inside to overpower Al-Hammami, enabling the flight team to stabilize the aircraft.
Assistance also came from two off-duty pilots who stepped in to help manage the plane ahead of its unscheduled emergency touchdown in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where all 180 people on board safely disembarked.