Australia and New Zealand investigate suspect in Flydubai cockpit attack

Security agencies in Australia and New Zealand on Monday said they were investigating the time that the co-pilot of Flydubai flight FZ1073 spent in the countries in his youth.

The Omani national is in custody in the United Arab Emirates. He is suspected of attacking his pilot Smit Machchhar with the emergency ax in the cockpit, and attempting to hijack the plane and crash it intentionally in Israel.

The pilot and passengers combined to thwart his attempts and restrain him. After a near-vertical dive lasting around 30 seconds during the fight for control, the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

What did Australian and New Zealand authorities say about the case?

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) said on Monday that the man had enrolled at the Melbourne university in the state of Victoria, but said that he did not successfully complete an engineering qualification.

A spokesman for the Australian Federal Police said that the Victorian Counter Terrorism Team — comprising federal poice, Victorian state police, and the ASIO intelligence agency — was "investigating the man's links to Australia."

Based on Australian media reports, the man arrived on an Australian student visa in 2014, enrolled in 2015, left in 2017, and had his visa canceled in 2019.

Similarly, police in New Zealand said on Monday that the suspect spent time there, without specifying exactly where or when.

"We are looking into the time he spent here, alongside other agencies where appropriate," New Zealand Police assistant commissioner Micahel Johnson told the RNZ news outlet, issuing similar comments elsewhere. "We are unable to comment further at this time."

Flight FZ1073's pilot, Indian national Machchhar, also spent some of his formative years in New Zealand. He completed his early flight training some 18 years ago with the Mainland Air carrier.

"I was really pleased to read how he handled the situation," the airline's chief executive Philip Kean told RNZ. "He got through and he got the door open so the other people could save the airplane, because if he hadn't done that, it would have been a disaster."