Investigators believe Flydubai co-pilot acted as ‘lone wolf’ – report

Investigators believe Flydubai co-pilot acted as ‘lone wolf’ – report Preliminary investigation doesn’t indicate Omani pilot had ties to any organisation or foreign government - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in The pilot who allegedly attempted to seize control of an Israel-bound Flydubai flight and crash it likely acted alone, according to an initial investigation. Multiple American and Israeli officials briefed on the investigation said it appeared that the co-pilot, identified as Hamam al-Hammami, 29, was a “lone wolf” rather than a member of an organisation or foreign government, CBS and NBC News reported. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had claimed last week the pilot “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination” and Israeli officials said they were looking into his links with terrorist organisations and enemy states. Australian authorities are also looking into his links to the country. Confirming the investigation, an Australian Federal Police spokesperson said they would provide an update “at an appropriate time”. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology said he was enrolled at the school for a time, but did not complete his engineering qualification, the Associated Press reported. The pilot allegedly visited extremist websites in Australia, reported Financial Times, citing two sources familiar with the probe. The outlet reported that the intelligence services of the country also held a file on him. In the UK, Buckinghamshire New University previously confirmed that Mr Hammami had done a distance-learning course in aviation management at the institution. Mr Hammami allegedly grabbed an emergency axe and slashed Smit Machchhar, the captain of the Flydubai aircraft, with the struggle sending the Boeing 737 Max into a sudden 17,000ft plunge. Despite sustaining severe injuries, Mr Machchhar said he was able to unlock the flight deck door, allowing passengers to force their way inside, subdue Mr Hammami, and stabilise the plane before making an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Amid increasing scrutiny of security lapses that led to the incident, Mr Netanyahu told the head of the National Security Council to appoint an examiner to review “all security aspects regarding foreign civil aviation to Israel”. Regional officials said the Omani pilot was barred from flying in his own country due to concerns over his extremist views. It was also unclear how a citizen of Oman, a country with no diplomatic ties with Israel, was allowed to fly a planeload of Israelis to Tel Aviv. The officials also said authorities in the UAE had shared a list of passengers and crew, including their nationalities, with Israel ahead of the flight, raising questions about how the alleged attacker evaded detection. Israel had not raised red flags for any passenger or member of the crew, said the officials. Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency, said the transportation ministry was responsible for vetting passenger lists from foreign flights. Transportation minister Miri Regev said the security agencies were responsible for flight security and that her ministry wasn’t given a list of passengers or any warnings. Sharing the list is standard aviation procedure. But the head of aviation security at the transportation ministry, Dvir Rubenstien, told Army Radio the ministry relied on local security checks and didn’t have the tools or the ability to run checks on each passenger on every flight. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments