Flydubai Co-Pilot Completed Portion of His Flight Training in New Zealand, Police Say
- On Monday, New Zealand Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Johnson reported that authorities are investigating co-pilot Hammam al-Hammami's time in the country, while he remains in custody after an in-flight attack was designated an attempted terrorist act by the United Arab Emirates on Saturday.
- Hammami studied in Australia from 2015 to 2017 on a student visa issued in 2014, identified as an Omani citizen; authorities canceled his visa in 2019 after determining he failed to meet residency conditions.
- Australian counterterrorism officials are investigating whether Hammami underwent ideological radicalization while in the country, with state police and national security agencies coordinating to trace his movements and activities.
- Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot attacked aboard the flight, trained with Mainland Air in New Zealand between 2008 and 2009 as an India-based recruitment agent; Chief Executive Philip Kean praised the crew's response.
- The investigation into Hammami's past has taken on greater significance following the September 30 incident, with state police and national security agencies coordinating across multiple jurisdictions to trace his movements and determine the attack's origins.
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Before going to New Zealand, he had started engineering studies in Australia, but did not complete them.
The UAE Attorney General called the incident a "terrorist attack" and premeditated.
THE CO-PILOT who attacked a flydubai captain with an ax was training in New Zealand as police investigate his possible links to extremism.
The co-pilot of a Flydubai plane who attacked the captain last week in an alleged attempt to crash the plane was in New Zealand seven years ago to complete part of his flight training for a British-based company, New Zealand authorities confirmed on Monday, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported. Police said the man was in New Zealand between November 2018 and May 2019 on a six-month student visa. “Immigration records show he arrived in New Zealand on …
The New Zealand police reported that the second pilot of Flydubai, suspected of attempting to seize the aircraft, was part of the flight training in that country. "Immigration data show that he arrived in New Zealand on 30 November 2018 and left the country on 23 May 2019," said Assistant Commissioner Michael Johnson. A man was in the State to undergo flight training from a British company that no longer works there, transmitting RIA News with r…
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