The Flydubai co-pilot who attacked the captain studied at a British university

The co-pilot of the Flydubai plane who attacked the captain may have been 29-year-old Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami.

Al Hammami completed a three-year distance learning course in aviation management at Buckinghamshire New University from 2020 to 2023.

LONDON, Oct 3 - RIA Novosti. The second pilot who attacked the captain of the Flydubai plane on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was taking courses in aviation management at a British university, the Telegraph newspaper reports.

Earlier, the ABC television channel, citing sources, reported that the attacker on the captain of the Flydubai plane could have been 29-year-old Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami.

“The second pilot who tried to hijack a plane heading to Israel studied at a British university,” the publication writes.

According to the newspaper, al-Hammami completed a three-year distance learning course in aviation management at Buckinghamshire New University from 2020 to 2023. The university told the publication that al-Hammami completed only a distance learning course, but was not trained as a pilot.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources, wrote that the Omani authorities banned the pilot, who is now suspected of attack, from flying because of his radical views.

On Wednesday, a Flydubai plane en route from Dubai to Tel Aviv signaled an emergency and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. The airline later confirmed that a fight broke out between the pilots during the flight. Later, information appeared in the media that one of the pilots injured the second with a knife and tried to cause a plane crash.