Co-pilot on Flydubai flight was banned from flying by Oman for holding extremist views

The Omani co-pilot accused of attacking the captain aboard a Flydubai flight on September 30 had been barred from flying in his country for security reasons. Several media outlets reported that Omani authorities suspected him of holding radical ideological views.

Travelers board a FlyDubai aircraft at Ben Gurion International Airport after a separate FlyDubai flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel was diverted to Saudi Arabia following an emergency signal, in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel on September 30, 2026. © Ammar Awad, Reuters

The co-pilot accused of attacking the captain of a Flydubai flight to Israel on September 30 had previously been barred from flying in Oman over concerns about his extremist views, multiple media outlets reported.

Scrutiny into the alleged assailant – who was identified in the reports as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami – and his motives has intensified after Wednesday's drama aboard a Dubai-Tel Aviv route that officials say narrowly avoided catastrophe.

During the Flydubai flight, the jet's Indian captain was assaulted by his co-pilot but he managed to open the cockpit door , allowing passengers and crew to overpower the attacker and force an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia .

Copyright for this text belongs to France 24.