Would-Be Hijacker Trained at Elite UK Flight School

The pilot who attempted to hijack a Flydubai flight and crash it into Ben Gurion Airport, Hamam Al-Hamami, received professional training at one of the UK's largest flight schools, L3 Airline Academy, between 2018 and 2019. The British newspaper The Telegraph revealed that Al-Hamami also obtained a six-month student visa in New Zealand for further flight training from November 2018 to May 2019, as part of a program connecting the academy's UK and New Zealand facilities. Al-Hamami's deleted X account, which reportedly contained posts supporting violence against women, appeared to document his time abroad. In a 2022 post, he described his overseas studies as "the golden years of my religious commitment" and noted becoming less observant upon returning to Oman. He also posted about encounters with women in Britain, expressing support for strict Islamic expectations regarding marriage and dress, and seemingly resided in London for about five months, though it's unclear if this overlapped with his flight training.

Al-Hamami's employer, Oman Air, had previously listed the L3 Airline Academy as one of five internationally recognized institutions whose graduates would be considered for its pilot recruitment program. The academy, now part of Acron Aviation, stated it would assist authorities with the investigation. Acron Aviation declined to confirm if Al-Hamami was a student, citing privacy policies.

During interrogation by Israeli security services, who are participating in the investigation in the UAE, Al-Hamami stated his motive was revenge against Israel for its actions in Gaza. He intended to crash the plane at Ben Gurion Airport, initiating the hijacking in Jordan with the aim of a seemingly normal landing before crashing. If unable to reach Ben Gurion, he planned to crash the plane into a U.S. military base in Jordan. He had initially planned the attack for July but postponed it due to personal affection for a crew member. He had arrived in Israel in June to prepare for martyrdom.

The attempted hijacking was thwarted by the heroic actions of the flight's Indian pilot, Smith Macher. Al-Hamami admitted he planned to incapacitate Macher with an emergency axe before taking control and crashing the plane. After the hijacker was subdued and the plane stabilized, the co-pilots requested landing permission in Jordan, but Jordanian authorities denied it upon suspecting a hijacking. Al-Hamami told investigators he specifically chose Flydubai after researching which airlines flew to Tel Aviv and had planned the attack before being hired by the company.