Australia investigates Flydubai co-pilot Hammam al-Hammami’s past in Melbourne

Euro Times – The international investigation into Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv has widened after Australian authorities opened a security investigation into the years co-pilot Hammam al-Hammami spent in Australia.

Australia’s Federal Police confirmed that the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team is investigating the man’s links to Australia. The team includes the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

Sources familiar with the investigation told Reuters that al-Hammami studied at a university in Melbourne about a decade ago. A third source identified the institution as RMIT University, which declined to comment.

Student visa and years in Australia

According to information reported in Australia, al-Hammami was granted an Australian student visa in 2014, began studying the following year and left Australia in 2017. His visa was later cancelled in 2019 after he was no longer enrolled, according to a source familiar with the case.

Buckinghamshire New University in Britain has also confirmed that a person named Hammam al-Hammami completed a distance-learning aviation management programme there, stressing that he did not receive flight training at the university.

Extremism allegations under scrutiny

One of the most sensitive parts of the inquiry concerns al-Hammami’s activities while he was in Australia. The Financial Times, citing two people familiar with the investigation, reported allegations that he attended mosques described by the newspaper as radical and accessed extremist websites during his stay. It also reported that Australian intelligence held a file on him.

Australian authorities have not publicly confirmed those allegations, and Reuters said it could not independently verify them. What has been officially confirmed is that the joint counter-terrorism team is investigating his Australian links.

From Australia to the aviation industry

The Australian inquiry adds another chapter to al-Hammami’s professional and personal history. Earlier reports, citing security sources, said concerns about his views had been raised during an earlier stage of his aviation career. Those claims remain part of ongoing investigations rather than final judicial findings.

The case raises a central question for investigators: what security screening took place before he was allowed to serve as a co-pilot, and how was he assigned to a flight bound for Tel Aviv?

What happened aboard FZ1073?

UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said preliminary investigations found that the co-pilot attacked the captain inside the cockpit using an emergency axe and attempted to seize control of the aircraft. UAE authorities described the incident as an attempted terrorist act.

Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft descending thousands of metres in roughly 30 seconds during the incident. Passengers and crew members managed to restrain the co-pilot before a reserve Flydubai pilot travelling on board took control and made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi authorities later transferred al-Hammami to the UAE, where he remains in custody. The investigation into the motive and any possible links is continuing.

An investigation spanning several countries

The latest developments mean investigators are reconstructing a timeline spanning his studies in Australia, his aviation career and his eventual arrival in the cockpit of FZ1073.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the National Security Council to conduct a comprehensive review of security arrangements governing foreign civil aviation flying to Israel following the incident.

With Australian counter-terrorism agencies now involved, the inquiry is no longer confined to the critical minutes inside the cockpit. Investigators are examining whether warning signs existed earlier, when they emerged and how the relevant institutions responded.