A flydubai pilot who allegedly tried to carry out a terrorist attack during a Tel Aviv-bound flight that nearly crashed had completed a UK university course.
According to United Arab Emirates prosecutor general Hamad Saif al Shamsi, the co-pilot, identified as Omani national Hamam al Hammami, attacked captain Smit Machchhar with an axe inside the cockpit, and tried to take control of the aircraft to commit a “terrorist attack”.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances of the incident, the motives and any related connections, as well as to examine physical and digital evidence, he added.
A British university has also confirmed that Al Hammami had been enrolled on one of its remote courses.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Buckinghamshire New University said: “Our thoughts are with the injured pilot, crew and pᴀssengers involved in this incident.
“Hamam al Hammami previously completed a distance-learning course in aviation management. He did not undertake any pilot training at the University.”
Al Hammami – who has a Syrian mother and was born in the UAE – had been banned from flying by Oman over fears he had adopted extremist views before he was hired by the UAE-based airline, sources told the ᴀssociated Press (AP).
A Gulf diplomat told the news agency that investigations were underway to establish whether he acted as a “lone wolf, or has any connection with any extremist groups”.
Mr Machchhar, meanwhile, has been hailed a hero after fighting to open the cockpit door when he was stabbed by his colleague in mid-air.
The Indian pilot has been visited in hospital by the deputy leader of the UAE.
Hamdan bin Mohammed posted a series of pictures on X of him embracing and chatting with the pilot as he lay in his hospital bed.
Capt Machchhar’s actions “embodied the highest degrees of courage, responsibility, and care for human life”, Mr Mohammed said, adding the pilot was “part of the story of our nation… and part of what the UAE stands for”.
Pᴀssengers and crew subdued the alleged attacker as the plane, with 182 people on board, dropped from 33,000ft to 17,000ft in about a minute.
The aircraft, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv, was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained.
UAE senior diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash on Friday called the flydubai attack a “dangerous terrorist act” in a post on X, crediting the flight captain for preventing a catastrophe.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot had undergone “Islamist radical indoctrination”, and it appeared “very likely that he was going to down the plane”.
“We are now investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price,” he said in a video message on Friday.
US President Donald Trump told reporters that early information he has received suggests links between the attack and Iran, adding that if Iranian agents were to blame, the US will “hit them very hard”.
Israeli investigators are involved in the probe, but the Emiratis are in the lead, according to an official who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
They said it is unclear if the attacker was part of a group and there is currently no evidence of a link with Iran.
The co-pilot attacked his colleague with a crash axe, typically kept in the cockpit for use in emergencies such as crashes, according to the UAE prosecutor general.
Speaking in an emotional video call from hospital in Abu Dhabi, Mr Machchhar told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he “could not let people die” as he described how he fought to open the cockpit door while still being attacked.
The pilot, who was badly wounded, described how he fell to the floor after the stabbing, and was “fighting for my life”.
“When I was down, I could feel that the aircraft was plummeting, and I knew this is a last chance to do something. I knew the door was just there,” he said.