Police investigating Flydubai co-pilot’s Australia ties

Australian police and intelligence join the list of those probing the incident.

A Flydubai aircraft sits on the tarmac at Ben Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, September 30 [Abir Sultan/EPA]

Authorities have said they are investigating the links of the co-pilot of the Israel-bound Flydubai flight with Australia.

A multi-agency Australian police and intelligence team – the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team – is carrying out the probe, a spokesperson said on Sunday.

list 1 of 3 Flydubai co-pilot attacked captain with crash axe in ‘terrorist act’: UAE

list 2 of 3 Who is the mystery co-pilot behind the Flydubai attack?

list 3 of 3 What we know about the co-pilot accused in Flydubai attack

Mystery surrounds the co-pilot, who is accused of attacking the captain with an axe and attempting to seize control of Flight FZ1073 from Dubai as it approached Israel, and how he was able to acquire his seat in the plane’s cockpit.

He has been identified in media reports as Omani national Hamam al-Hammami .

He had been barred from flying in his own country because of concerns that he had adopted “extremist” views, The Associated Press news agency cited sources as saying.

While al-Hammami reportedly spent part of his life in the United Arab Emirates, the Reuters news agency, citing sources briefed on the Australian investigation, reported that he studied at a university in the Australian city of Melbourne.

A third unnamed source told the agency that he studied at RMIT University, a public research university in Melbourne, about a decade ago.

The Financial Times also reported al-Hammami’s links to Australia. Citing two sources familiar with the Australian investigation, the FT said al-Hammami had allegedly visited what it described as “radical mosques and extremist websites” while in the country.

Disaster was averted after passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot and a reserve pilot took over its controls and completed an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

However, the case has raised questions about security in Israel, which has some of the world’s strictest aviation security measures.

The prosecutor general of the UAE, Hamad Saif al-Shamsi, has labelled the attack an attempted “terrorist act”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel has longstanding arrangements with foreign airlines aimed at preventing pilots who are nationals of countries without diplomatic relations with Israel from flying there.

Netanyahu said a “loophole” appears to have allowed the Omani pilot to take part in the Flydubai flight, and that Israel would now strengthen its checks.

The UAE has not yet publicly established a motive or announced whether investigators believe al-Hammami acted alone.

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said on Saturday that the latest “terrorist” attack is a new warning that the region’s fight against “extremism” is not over.

澳大利亚警方和情报部门也加入了对该事件的调查。

9月30日，一架迪拜航空的飞机停在以色列特拉维夫附近的本古里安国际机场的停机坪上。[Abir Sultan/EPA]

当局表示，他们正在调查飞往以色列的迪拜航空航班副驾驶与澳大利亚的联系。

一位发言人周日表示，由澳大利亚警方和情报部门组成的多机构联合小组——维多利亚州联合反恐小组——正在进行调查。

阿联酋称，迪拜航空副驾驶用破旧斧袭击机长，涉嫌“恐怖袭击”，以下为第1条。

列表 2/3：Flydubai 袭击事件背后的神秘副驾驶是谁？

列表 3/3：关于涉嫌参与迪拜航空袭击事件的副驾驶，我们目前了解到的信息。

副驾驶的身份成谜，他被指控用斧头袭击机长，并试图在迪拜起飞的 FZ1073 航班接近以色列时夺取飞机的控制权，以及他如何能够获得飞机驾驶舱的座位。

媒体报道确认他是阿曼公民哈马姆·哈马米。

据美联社援引消息人士的话报道，他因被怀疑持有“极端主义”观点而被禁止在本国乘坐飞机。

据报道，哈马米曾在阿拉伯联合酋长国生活过一段时间，但路透社援引了解澳大利亚调查情况的消息人士报道称，他曾在澳大利亚墨尔本的一所大学学习。

第三位不愿透露姓名的消息人士告诉该机构，他大约十年前曾在墨尔本的公立研究型大学 RMIT 大学学习。

《金融时报》也报道了哈马米与澳大利亚的联系。该报援引两名熟悉澳大利亚调查的消息人士的话称，哈马米在澳大利亚期间曾到访过一些被其称为“激进清真寺和极端主义网站”的地方。

乘客和机组人员制服了副驾驶，一名备用飞行员接管了飞机的控制权，并在沙特阿拉伯完成了紧急迫降，从而避免了一场灾难。

然而，此案引发了人们对以色列安全问题的担忧，以色列拥有世界上最严格的航空安全措施。

阿联酋总检察长哈马德·赛义夫·沙姆西将此次袭击定性为未遂的“恐怖主义行为”。

以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡表示，以色列与外国航空公司有着长期的协议，旨在阻止与以色列没有外交关系的国家的飞行员飞往以色列。

内塔尼亚胡表示，一个“漏洞”似乎让这名阿曼飞行员得以参与迪拜航空的航班，以色列现在将加强检查力度。

阿联酋尚未公开确定作案动机，也未宣布调查人员是否认为哈马米是单独作案。

阿联酋总统顾问安瓦尔·加尔加什周六表示，最近发生的“恐怖袭击”再次发出警告，表明该地区打击“极端主义”的斗争尚未结束。