Flydubai Co-Pilot's Extreme Views on Violence, Women, and Jews Revealed

An investigation by The Telegraph has uncovered extremist social media posts made by the co-pilot of a Flydubai flight who allegedly attempted to hijack the plane en route to Israel. Hammam Al-Hammami, who described himself as a civilian pilot from Moscow, posted over 2,000 messages between November 2021 and August 2022 expressing support for violence against women, homophobic violence, and sexual humiliation.

Al-Hammami's posts frequently advocated for physical abuse of women, suggesting a man should "crush her head" and "make her life miserable" if she spoke ill of him. He also criticized women for being "safe from punishment" and described women he disliked as "cheap meat." He further expressed support for strict Sharia law, advocating for the death penalty for a man accused of extorting women, citing Quranic verses about crucifixion and limb amputation.

An Israeli official stated that Al-Hammami also explicitly discussed the ideologically motivated murder of Jews on his social media accounts. These posts were made while Al-Hammami was studying aviation management remotely at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK. Following the revelations, British politicians called for stricter background checks for international students in online courses. The university stated Al-Hammami received no practical flight training during his studies and will investigate his academic period.

Security officials had previously flagged Al-Hammami. Oman Air removed him from duty last year after finding extremist materials and evidence of him visiting extremist Islamist websites. Other airlines rejected his job applications before he joined Flydubai earlier this year.