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Ax-wielding FlyDubai co-pilot had been flagged over extremism concerns · Best of: Features

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  Axe wielding Fly Dubai co pilot had been flagged over extremism concerns.
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  Written by Sammy Magdi, Sam Mednik, and Kara Anna. This article is
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  being read by an automated voice generated by Everlett. Cairo, the AP,
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  the co pilot accused of attacking the captain of an Israel bound
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  flight with an axe and trying to seize the controls, was an
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  Omani national who had been barred from flying on his country's airline
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  because of concerns about extremist views, officials said Saturday. The co pilot
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  has been identified as Hamam al Hamami, according to three people with
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  knowledge of the situation, including a Gulf and a Western diplomat, who
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  spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak
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  to the media. The
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  United Arab Emirates, which is leading the investigation, said the co pilot
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  attacked with the cockpit's crash axe and tried to take control of
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  the plummeting plane in a terrorist attack Wednesday. His actions nearly crashed
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  the flight with one eighty two people on board, before Brasengers and
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  others rushed in and subdued him. The new details raise questions about
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  how thoroughly Fly Dubai vets potential employees, and how the copilot's presence
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  on a flight filled with Israeli passengers got past Israel's strict security
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  protocols. Israel has said it has agreements with foreign carriers to keep
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  pilots of nations without diplomatic ties from flying there. Israel and Oman
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  don't have formal diplomatic relations. The UAE government has earned a reputation
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  for effective measures against extremist activities, but has bristled in the past
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  over criticism of security lapses. The incident occurred at a sensitive time
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  for Israel, a week before the anniversary of the Hamas led attack
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  on october seventh, twenty twenty three, that sparked The war in Gaza.
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  It also came weeks before a highly contentious election, in which security
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  and october seventh security failures have been central issues. Fly Dubai hired
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  the co-pilot after Oman Air barred him. Separately, a regional official and
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  a person familiar with the matter said the co co-pilot had been
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  barred from flying by Oman over concerns that he had adopted extremist
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  views. The official said he was moved to an administrative job at
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  Oman Air. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing
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  investigation. They gave no details about The alleged extremist views. The co-pilot’s
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  was later hired by UAE based airline Fly Dubai, The person said
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  It hasn't immediately clear to what extent the co-pilot was vetted. The
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  Gulf diplomat said he had undergone standard security checks before being hired,
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  but it appears that the checks focused on whether he had been
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  convicted of criminal charges, and didn't go deeper into examining his background
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  for potential signs of radicalization. The regional official also said security agencies
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  from four regional countries were working to establish the copilot's motives, aided
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  by the United States and other Western governments. The Gulf diplomat said
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  the investigation, which hasn't concluded, hasn't found any connections with militant groups,
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  suggesting that the copilot acted on his own. The regional official said
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  the copilot was born in the UAE, and his mother is Syrian.
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  He obtained Omani nationality from his father, also an Omani national. The
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  regional official also said the co-pilot had traveled to Syria, with no
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  details. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said the copilot had
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  undergone Islamist radicalization, but provided no evidence. There was no immediate comment
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  Saturday from Israel's government. A social media account was deleted the day
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  of the flight. A Flightabibe spokesperson said in an email that the
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  airline could not comment beyond its official statements and acknowledged there are
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  many questions at this stage. There was no immediate comment from Oman
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  Air, and Oman's government has said nothing publicly in response to repeated
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  questions since the incident. In a statement to the Associated Press, Royal
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  Air Morocco, Morocco's national carrier, said the co pilot completed a three
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  month theoretical training period with the airline in twenty twenty five, as
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  part of the pre employment process. At the end of this training
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  period, his application was not selected for employment. There were no details.
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  Keith Coles, a spokesperson for Buckinghamshire New University in England, told the
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  AP that Al Hamami previously completed a distance course in aviation management
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  there, but did not undertake any pilot training. There were no details
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  on the timing. Little else was immediately known about the co pilot's
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  background. His Instagram account was active until the day of The
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  flight and then deleted. Philip Baum, a visiting professor of aviation security
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  at Coventry University in England, who wrote a book about aircraft hijackings
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  and bombings, said background check systems differ from country to country and
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  there are limits on what types of information can be shared. In
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  terms of aviation security itself, obviously we want to have as robust
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  background checks as possible, but there are huge limitations on doing background
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  checks in any case, especially in cross border checks, he said. Captain
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  and passengers have described drama on board. Airlines are generally required to
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  carry crash axes in the cockpit that could be used in an
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  emergency to break open a window to escape, or break open a
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  panel to access a fire. The captain, who was badly wounded, has
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  said he used his remaining energy while being attacked to unlock the
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  cockpit door, allowing people who had noticed alarming sounds to come in,
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  tackle the co pilot and stabilize the flight while passengers screamed. In
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  a phone call with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, The
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  flight's captain, Smit Makshar, said that before the attack The co pilot
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  wanted to pray, and that he turned away out of respect. He
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  said he felt a blow to the back of his head a
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  few minutes later, and then the blows kept coming. Netanyahu told Makshar
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  that he was amazed at his courage and his ability to stay
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  cool under impossible conditions. You saved so many souls, you saved the
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  spirit of the world, he said. The plane made an emergency landing
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  in Saudi Arabia after a descent so extreme that part of the
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  rudder was torn away, and aviation experts have marveled that it didn't
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  crash. Fly Dubai has said crew traveling on the plane helped to
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  stabilize it and land. They haven't been publicly identified. The captain and
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  co pilot were later taken to the UAE. The passengers, most of
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  them Israeli, flew home later Wednesday on a separate plane, to cheers.
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  Mednik reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Anna from Jerusalem. The AP
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  Washington Bureau Chief Anna Johnson in Washington, Transportation Writer Josh Funk in
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  Omaha, Nebraska, and reporter Sam Metz in Jerusalem contributed.