The flydubai attack investigation is now stretching across several countries. New Zealand police have opened their own inquiry into the co-pilot accused of trying to seize an Israel-bound plane, after confirming that he completed part of his flight training there. Authorities in multiple nations are scrambling to piece together who he is, what drove him, and whether he acted alone.

What Happened on Board

On 30 September, passengers and crew stopped an alleged attempt by co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami, 29, to take control of a flight to Tel Aviv carrying 182 people. Hammami is an Omani national.

The UAE’s prosecutor general said he allegedly used a crash axe in what authorities describe as an attempted terrorist attack, in which the captain was stabbed mid-air. Israeli and other regional officials suspect he had first planned an attack for July but postponed it.

The Captain’s Account

Captain Smit Machchhar said that shortly after Hammami left his seat to pray, he felt a big blow to the back of his head. In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he recalled that the blows kept coming, and only then did he realise the danger was not the aircraft but the man beside him.

Despite his injuries, Machchhar managed to unlock the cockpit door so passengers could overpower the suspect. A reserve flydubai pilot travelling on the flight took the controls and landed the plane at a regional airport in north-western Saudi Arabia, where Saudi authorities detained Hammami.

New Zealand’s Role

New Zealand police assistant commissioner Michael Johnson confirmed that Hammami was in the country on a student visa for 175 days, from 30 November 2018 to 23 May 2019. He said the co-pilot was there to complete part of his flight training for a UK-based company that no longer operates in New Zealand. Police are now examining his time there. Machchhar also trained in New Zealand for a period.

The Australian Chapter

Australian security agencies opened their own investigation over the weekend after it emerged Hammami spent about two years in the country as a student, until 2017. RMIT University in Melbourne confirmed he left without finishing his engineering degree.

A deleted social media account believed to be his reportedly described his years studying abroad as the golden years of his religious commitment, and claimed he became less observant after returning to Oman. This has not been independently verified.

Calls for a Thorough Inquiry

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry called for a full investigation of Hammami’s associations in Australia. Its co-chief executive, Alex Ryvchin, said authorities must understand who associated with him, who influenced him, and what traces of his ideology remain. He pointed to concerns about extremist literature, hate preachers and recruiters. These are the group’s views, and no such links to Hammami have been established.

What Investigators Are Trying to Learn

• Whether Hammami acted alone or had help
• What shaped his views during his years abroad
• Why the attack was reportedly planned for July and delayed
• How he came to be on a Tel Aviv-bound flight

What to Watch Next

• Findings from the New Zealand and Australian inquiries
• Any charges or formal statements from UAE prosecutors
• Changes to crew vetting and screening procedures
• Further details on the alleged July plan

The Bottom Line

What began as a mid-air emergency has become a global search for answers. With three countries now examining his past, the picture of how a trained pilot came to allegedly attack his own captain is slowly taking shape, though much remains unknown.