New Zealand launches review of flydubai pilot’s training — The Guardian
New Zealand police have launched an investigation into the stay in the country and flight training of flydubai’s second pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, who is suspected of attempting to hijack a plane bound for Tel Aviv. As The Guardian reports, the 29-year-old Omani national was in New Zealand on a student visa for 175 days, from November 30, 2018, to May 23, 2019.
Training in New Zealand
New Zealand Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Johnson said that al-Hammami had come to the country to complete part of his flight training for a British company that no longer operates in New Zealand. According to him, police are now examining the circumstances of the man’s stay in the country.
An investigation is also being conducted in Australia, where al-Hammami studied for around two years before 2017. RMIT University in Melbourne confirmed that he left the country without completing his engineering degree. The representative body of Australia’s Jewish communities called for his connections in the country to be thoroughly checked.
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Incident on the flight to Tel Aviv
The incident occurred on September 30 on a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv carrying 182 people. According to a statement by the United Arab Emirates’ attorney general, al-Hammami allegedly used an emergency axe during a suspected terrorist attack attempt in which the captain was injured in flight.
Captain Smith Machchar said he felt a powerful blow to the head after the second pilot left his seat to pray. Despite his injuries, Machchar was able to open the secured cockpit door, after which passengers subdued al-Hammami. Control of the aircraft was taken over by a reserve flydubai pilot travelling on that flight; the plane was landed at a regional airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where Saudi authorities detained the second pilot.
