Investigators say flydubai pilot's 'drift towards terrorism' started in Australia

Emirati investigators have revealed the pilot who allegedly attempted to hijack a plane from Dubai to Tel Aviv started to "drift towards extremism and terrorism" while studying in Australia.

The man, widely reported as Omani national Al-Hammami, is accused of attacking his co-pilot with an axe in the skies over Saudi Arabia, as they were flying a flydubai plane with more than 170 passengers.

The Indian co-pilot, Smit Machchhar, managed to unlock the cockpit door during the violent attack, which allowed passengers to storm in and wrest back control.

A LinkedIn profile seen by multiple media outlets, since deleted, showed Al-Hammami said he studied at Melbourne's RMIT.

The Attorney-General of the United Arab Emirates, Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, alleged Al-Hammami was trying to take control of the plane to crash it into Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport in a "suicide attack".

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Mr Al Shamsi said the pilot had been inspired by Al Qaeda's September 11 attacks in New York, learning of his leanings during interrogations of the 29-year-old.

"The findings indicated that signs of his drift towards extremism and terrorism first emerged in 2017, while he was studying in Australia," the UAE's state news agency reported, in comments attributed to the attorney-general.

"During that period, he was influenced by takfiri [radical] ideology through reading extremist literature and following online content glorifying terrorist organisations and suicide attacks."

It said Al-Hammami had "regularly attended" a mosque during his time studying in Melbourne, and "became acquainted" with an organisation linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Known as "My Centre," the news agency reported it was managed by a Lebanese man known as "Abu Hamza".

"[Al-Hammami] also said that he had prepared himself both psychologically and physically to carry out the plot by intensifying his exposure to material promoting terrorism and training in boxing under a private coach," the news agency reported.

Last week, the Australian Federal Police confirmed it had launched an investigation into Al-Hammami's time in Australia and any links to extremism.

Scrutiny on why co-pilot was allowed to fly

The pilot is accused of using the crash axe, stored in the cockpit, to attack his co-pilot during the attack in early October.

"In the presence of his lawyer and with all legally prescribed safeguards ensured, the suspect provided a detailed confession outlining his motives and the stages of planning and execution," the Emirati news agency said.

"He admitted that he had acted alone, without the involvement of others, although investigations are continuing to verify this claim."

The plane plummeted during the incident, before passengers managed to take back control and a pilot, travelling on the flight, managed to execute an emergency landing in northern Saudi Arabia.

Questions have been raised as to how Al-Hammami was allowed to fly the plane to Tel Aviv, given he had reportedly been sacked by his country's national carrier due to his extremist views.

Israel also has rules banning flight crews from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with it from operating planes in and out of Tel Aviv. Oman falls into that category.

There have been demands in Israel for the country's transport minister to resign, given her department is meant to flag security risks among flight crews.