Al-Hammami lost his job at Oman Air last year amid concerns about extremist views, then unsuccessfully applied to Emirates before joining Flydubai, CNN reported. The Wall Street Journal reported that he had previously been barred from flying by Oman and that the flight manifest listing him was not checked.
UAE prosecutors classified the September 30 attack aboard Flight FZ1073 as an attempted terrorist act and said the co-pilot used the cockpit’s emergency crash axe against Captain Smit Machchhar. Passengers and crew subdued the attacker, and additional pilots traveling aboard landed the aircraft safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Nobody was killed. Flydubai has suspended Tel Aviv service until further notice at the authorities’ request.