Flydubai reportedly hired Omani pilot despite extremist background concerns

Emirati airline flydubai reportedly hired 29-year-old Omani pilot Hammam al-Hamami in January without checking his background or consulting the Omani government, according to an informed source who spoke to CBS on Saturday.

Al-Hamami is accused of stabbing the captain of a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv this week in an apparent attempt to take control of the aircraft and crash it into Israel.

Al-Hamami’s previous employer, Oman Air, reportedly terminated his employment in 2024 over concerns that he had embraced radical Islam and possessed “extremist materials.” He had also reportedly visited extremist Islamist websites.

Sources told CBS that al-Hamami had previously posted a video of Israeli El Al planes in Dubai alongside an image of late al-Qaeda terror leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2022. Sources believe al-Hamami was radicalized while living in Syria, his mother’s native country.

On Wednesday, the Omani co-pilot allegedly stabbed the plane’s Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, during flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. Following his arrest, al-Hamami reportedly admitted to Emirati investigators that he intended to crash the plane with mainly Israeli passengers into Israeli territory.

The attack was thwarted by the quick response of several Israeli passengers and two off-duty pilots who were onboard.

An Israeli dentist provided life-saving care to the seriously wounded Indian captain, who has been widely credited with saving the lives of everyone aboard the plane. Despite his injuries, Machchhar managed to open the heavily secured cockpit door, allowing Israeli passengers to rush inside, subdue al-Hamami and stabilize the aircraft before the off-duty pilots took control.

The seriously damaged plane reportedly plunged about 17,000 feet before stabilizing, causing panic among the passengers. It eventually made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. All 174 Israeli passengers later returned to Israel.

Al-Hamami is a dual Syrian and Omani citizen. Although Oman and Israel do not have official diplomatic relations, the two countries have held discussions about potential normalization. Some sources have therefore speculated that his Omani passport may have contributed to his being permitted to fly to Israel.

The Omani pilot is facing the death penalty, according to senior Emirati officials. Israeli aviation experts and Mossad have reportedly joined the comprehensive Emirati-led investigation into al-Hamami, which is being headed by UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi.

Intelligence officials from Oman, the United States and Saudi Arabia have also reportedly joined the multinational investigation into the attack.

Investigators are examining claims that al-Hamami intended to crash the plane into one of the Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv. Had the plot succeeded, it could have resulted in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Israel since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

After Oman Air terminated his employment, al-Hamami reportedly worked for Morocco’s Royal Air Maroc before joining flydubai. His employment history has raised questions about how flydubai and Emirati authorities failed to identify concerns about his background before hiring him as a co-pilot.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Emirati source acknowledged the seriousness of the security failure amid efforts to quickly hire new pilots.

“You wouldn’t imagine that we would knowingly recruit a terrorist to an airline,” the Emirati source said. “It is certainly fair to say there was a very serious failure here."