U.S. media outlets early Saturday revealed the identity of the Omani pilot who stabbed the captain of a flydubai flight to Israel on Wednesday and tried to crash the plane with its Israeli passengers on board.
Hammam al-Hamami, whose previous employment with Oman Air ended amid suspicions that he had become radicalized, admitted during questioning that he intended to crash the plane in Israeli territory, ABC News reported, citing sources familiar with the investigation. The sources told the network that he was “cooperating” with investigators in the United Arab Emirates in an investigation that Israel is also expected to take an active part in, according to reports.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported that he had been suspended from flying for Oman Air, said it remains unclear whether those suspicions were later passed on to flydubai before the airline hired him.
According to a LinkedIn account bearing his name, he worked for Oman Air for seven years before leaving Oman’s national carrier in February 2025. He joined Moroccan carrier Royal Air Maroc in June 2025 but left six months later, in January 2026. His LinkedIn profile did not list his subsequent employment with flydubai, which began this year.
According to ABC News, in 2024, while he was still a co-pilot with Oman Air, “extremist materials” were found in his possession. As a result, the airline decided to remove him from flying duties, though he continued working for the company in an administrative role. Reports said it remains unclear whether that information was later passed on to the other airlines he worked for, Royal Air Maroc and flydubai.
Saudi network Al Arabiya reported Friday that al-Hamami became radicalized while staying in Syria. “He spent most of his time outside Oman, particularly in Syria,” the network reported. A source cited in the report said Omani authorities realized that he held extremist views and that he had spent time in Syria because his mother is Syrian, adding that he may have been influenced there by the ideas of radical groups.
CNN reported that only two posts appeared on the pilot’s LinkedIn profile, both published Wednesday, nine hours after the attack. The network said it was unclear who uploaded the posts but raised the possibility that they had been scheduled in advance.
The damaged tail section of the flydubai plane after it landed in Saudi Arabia
According to the report, the first post contained a series of videos filmed in the cockpits of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The flydubai plane that al-Hamami allegedly tried to crash was also a 737 MAX.
CNN said one of the videos was filmed at Dubai International Airport, with the person recording it zooming in on an El Al aircraft. A cockpit display visible in the video showed the flight number of the Oman Air flight he was operating at the time, from Dubai to Muscat on October 11, 2023, several days after the Hamas-led October 7 massacre in Israel.
The post included additional videos showing El Al aircraft, as well as one Arkia plane. It ended with an image of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s successor, who was also killed by the United States.
The second post published on the now-deleted LinkedIn account included an AI-generated image depicting the three cities considered holy in Islam — Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem — connected by a continuous glowing path, according to CNN. A song playing in the background included declarations against “humiliation,” with the speaker saying he was not afraid of death and would defend his honor.
According to the profile, al-Hamami studied at Buckinghamshire New University in England. A university official confirmed to CNN that a person by that name completed a three-year distance-learning program, graduating in 2023 with a degree in aviation management.
CNN also reported that an account on X, formerly Twitter, belonging to a person with the suspect’s name and since deleted contained expressions of extremist religious views.
In several posts, for example, he described his mother’s difficulty finding him a prospective wife who would agree to his requirement that she wear a niqab, the Muslim face covering that leaves only a narrow opening for the eyes.
“They all refused. Then my mother told them, ‘My son is a pilot,’ and suddenly they all agreed,” read a February 2022 post.
In another post, he expressed opposition to men and women working together.
“How many respectable, religious young women have been ruined in mixed-gender workplaces and manipulated?” read the January 2022 post.
The investigation into al-Hamami is being conducted in the United Arab Emirates. A source familiar with the matter said the pilot will be questioned by the State Security Department, which reports directly to President Mohammed bin Zayed. Israel hopes the co-pilot’s transfer from Saudi Arabia to the UAE will allow for cooperation as the investigation continues. Israel’s exact role remains unclear, but whether it participates directly in the questioning or serves as an observer, officials in Jerusalem are expected to receive regular updates from Abu Dhabi. Despite the close ties between the two countries, however, the Emiratis are expected to keep Israel’s involvement low-profile.
After U.S. President Donald Trump said he had “heard Iran” was connected to the Omani pilot who tried to crash the flydubai flight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested in a video Friday that someone may have been behind the attempted crash. It is unclear what his remarks were based on, however, and Israeli security officials say that while all possibilities are being investigated, there is currently no indication that the co-pilot was acting on behalf of or under the direction of any outside party. The current assessment is that he acted alone and on his own initiative. The Associated Press reported overnight, citing a source familiar with the investigation, that there is currently no evidence linking the attacker to Iran.
The UAE attorney general provided an update on the investigation Saturday morning, saying the co-pilot is suspected of attempting to carry out a terrorist attack, after Abu Dhabi on Friday formally described the incident aboard the plane as an attempted terrorist attack for the first time.
“He attacked the captain with an emergency ax and attempted to take control of the flight systems. The investigation is continuing with the aim of uncovering all the circumstances and motives behind the incident on the flight,” the attorney general said.
Meanwhile, amid reports pointing to a potentially serious security failure, flydubai said Saturday morning that the circumstances of the incident remain under investigation and that it therefore could not comment further. Netanyahu has already acknowledged that allowing the Omani pilot to operate a flight to Israel, which has no diplomatic relations with Oman, was a “loophole” the attacker was able to exploit.