What happened
A 29-year-old Omani co-pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, made disturbing social media posts celebrating violence against women and expressing hatred for Jews. The posts, which were reviewed by The Telegraph, included al-Hammami advocating for beating women and referring to a man who failed to beat his wife as a coward. Al-Hammami had been pulled from flight duties at Oman's national airline due to concerns about his extremist views but was later hired by Flydubai to fly its route to Israel.
On a recent flight bound for Tel Aviv, al-Hammami allegedly stabbed the flight's captain, Smit Machchhar, in an apparent attempt to bring down the plane. The captain, despite being wounded, fought back and was assisted by several passengers who stormed the cockpit and off-duty crew who took over the controls.
Al-Hammami's social media posts, which numbered over 2,000, were tied to an account under the name Pilot Hamam al-Hammami. The account bio described the user as a civilian pilot from Oman and included biographical details matching al-Hammami, including that his mother was Syrian.
