Emirati airline flydubai reportedly hired Omani national pilot Hamam al Hamami without conducting a background check with the Omani government, sources told CBS on Saturday.
Al Hamami was the co-pilot responsible for the attempted hijacking of flydubai flight FZ1073 to Tel Aviv on Wednesday; he stabbed the other pilot, Indian national Smit Machchhar, and nearly caused the plane to crash before several of the Israeli passengers and off-duty crew members managed to take control of the situation.
The Omani government had been monitoring al-Hamami during his tenure with Oman Air - the airline where he had previously worked - and discovered that he had visited extremist websites, according to the CBS report. This led to his being moved from a pilot position to an office role at the company, prompting his resignation and eventual move to flydubai.
At one point, sources told CBS, al-Hamami posted a video of El Al planes in Dubai with a photo at the end of the clip showing Ayman al-Zawahiri, a well-known al-Qaeda leader who was killed in a 2022 US drone strike.
Al-Hamami lived outside Oman for most of his life, CBS's sources also noted, adding that his mother is Syrian and his father is Omani. His dual citizenship may be the reason he was allowed to fly to Tel Aviv, the sources said.
The Omani government has not confirmed his nationality, per the CBS report.
Flydubai pilot attempts terror hijacking of flight to Tel Aviv, foiled by Israeli passengers
One hundred and seventy-four Israeli passengers were returned to Ben-Gurion Airport Tuesday evening after a stunning series of events in which multiple passengers helped restrain an Omani hijacker-pilot who attempted to crash the airplane earlier in the day.
The passengers were initially on a flydubai commercial passenger aircraft flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, but then the pilot-hijacker, who was the deputy pilot for the flight, stabbed the lead pilot and tried to crash the aircraft before as many as four passengers wounded him and tied him up.
Israeli dentist provided life-saving care to Indian pilot after stabbing
An additional flight crew member on board was then able to handle landing the plane in Saudi Arabia, though the original pilot, a native of India, was in critical condition, having been stabbed repeatedly by the Omani pilot.
One of the Israeli passengers was a medical professional who helped stem the bleeding of the Indian pilot, who was reportedly in stable condition in Saudi Arabia.
Some of the passengers who managed to restore control of the plane credited the Indian pilot for opening the cockpit for them even after he had been stabbed, so that they could provide assistance.