Australia investigating Flydubai co-pilot over cockpit axe attack

Australian authorities are investigating the Flydubai co-pilot who attacked his captain in the cockpit of flight FZ1073 to Tel Aviv on 30 September. According to the public prosecutor's office of the United Arab Emirates, the man injured the captain severely with a rescue axe and tried to take control of the Boeing 737 Max 8. Passengers overpowered him.

The co-pilot, an Omani national, previously flew for Oman Air, the Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper said he was removed from cockpit duties there after a period because he had developed increasingly extreme views, and later joined Flydubai. It is not clear why Flydubai hired him or what background checks were carried out.

The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, which includes the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and the domestic intelligence agency ASIO, confirmed to the Guardian that it is examining the man's connections to Australia. Investigators are also looking into whether he may have radicalised during his time in the country.

According to ABC, he received a student visa in 2014 and studied in Australia from 2015 to 2017. His visa was cancelled in 2019 because he was no longer enrolled in a course. CNN reported that, according to a LinkedIn profile that has since been deleted, he studied engineering at an Australian university. The profile also listed a three-year distance-learning course in aviation management at Buckinghamshire New University in Britain. A university source confirmed to CNN that he graduated there in 2023.