FlyDubai co-pilot in alleged midair attack was fired by Oman Air over 'extremist views,' sources say

A FlyDubai co-pilot accused of trying to crash a passenger jet earlier this week had been fired by Oman Air over what sources described as "extremist views," multiple people familiar with the matter told CBS News on Friday.

The Wednesday flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was nearing Israel when the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and tried to bring the aircraft down, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The captain fought him off long enough to unlock the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to subdue the co-pilot. Two off-duty pilots traveling on the plane then took control and made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

There were 174 people aboard. No passengers were seriously hurt, but the captain was stabbed. Saudi authorities said two crew members were hospitalized with unspecified injuries. The co-pilot remained in custody Thursday.

The co-pilot has not been publicly identified by authorities. Multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News on Friday that his name is Hamam al Hamami.

Al Hamami spent a short time at Oman Air, where he entered new pilot training, according to the sources. Omani government surveillance found that he was visiting radical websites, they said, prompting Oman Air to move him into an office job. He was later apparently fired over his "extremist views" and left the airline around 2024, the sources said.

At one point, according to the sources, al Hamami posted a video of El Al Israeli Airlines planes in Dubai. The clip ended with a photo of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the prominent al Qaeda leader killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2022.

Al Hamami later moved to Dubai, and FlyDubai hired him without checking with the Omani government, the sources told CBS News.

The sources said al Hamami is an Omani citizen but was not born in Oman. He spent most of his life outside the country, they said, and his mother is Syrian while his father is Omani. The Omani government has not publicly confirmed his nationality. The sources said it was possible he held dual citizenship, which could help explain how he was allowed to fly to Israel.

His motive in the alleged attack remains unknown.

"As time passes, the picture is becoming clearer; the attacker underwent Islamist radicalization. He came to crash the plane with its passengers," Netanyahu said in a statement Friday. "We are investigating whether he was dispatched, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price."

Netanyahu speculated to CBS News on Wednesday that the episode looked "like a suicide attempt," citing witnesses who said the co-pilot tried to jam the plane's equipment instead of stabilizing the aircraft. After passengers restrained him, Netanyahu told Fox News on Thursday, the co-pilot shouted for someone to kill him.

In the same Fox interview, Netanyahu said "personal information" gathered during questioning had led Israel to conclude that the co-pilot "underwent Islamist radical indoctrination." He did not elaborate.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday called the incident "an attempted jihadist terror attack" and described the co-pilot as a "terrorist."

President Trump suggested Thursday that the co-pilot may be linked to Iran "based on what I'm hearing." "We're working on it right now," Trump said. "They're being very open with us. I would say the answer, based on what I'm hearing, is yes. But we're working on it right now." His comments went further than Netanyahu's. The Israeli prime minister told Fox it was "too early to say" whether Iran was involved.

An Israeli security official told CBS News that authorities were investigating whether the incident could have been an attempted Sept. 11-style terror attack and were also probing whether the attacker acted alone. Netanyahu has warned in recent days of unspecified, escalating security threats to Israel and its interests amid its operations against Iran-allied Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The co-pilot was arrested immediately. He was transferred Thursday from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates for questioning by Israeli, UAE and Saudi officials, an Israeli official confirmed to CBS News on Friday. Netanyahu said Wednesday that the man was "being questioned by the Saudi authorities" and that Israeli authorities would "join the interrogation and find out what happened there exactly." He has not said what information led investigators to conclude the co-pilot underwent radicalization.

The case is likely to sharpen scrutiny of international pilot vetting and intelligence sharing, particularly as airlines navigate routes to Israel amid heightened regional tensions. It also raises questions about how someone flagged by one government could later be hired by another airline in the same region.