The Telegraph revealed a “loophole” in the inspection of the attacking pilot flydubai
Accused of attempting to hijack a plane flying to Israel, he graduated from a three-year undergraduate program remotely. At the same time, his program did not fall under the system of checking foreign students
Flydubai pilot Hamam Al Hammami, who is accused of trying to hijack a plane flying to Israel, was not subjected to due diligence while studying at a UK university due to the peculiarities of the program and the distance learning format. This is reported by The Telegraph, calling the incident a loophole.
The 29-year-old Omani national completed a three-year undergraduate program in aviation management at the New University of Buckinghamshire. The university confirmed to the newspaper that he entered the 2020/21 academic year and completed his studies in 2023. According to the newspaper, al-Hammami studied remotely from Muscat.
According to The Telegraph, his program was not subject to the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS), a system of vetting international students and researchers engaged in certain sensitive areas, including aviation engineering. The newspaper points out that Al-Hammami was an undergraduate and was outside the UK. He also did not require a student visa, so he did not pass the checks provided for foreign students by the British Migration Service.
University of Buckingham security expert Anthony Glees called the situation a “loophole”. In his opinion, the co-pilot had to pass the check of the foreign Ministry. “The peculiarity of studying online is that it allows you to bypass such security checks,” he said.
The incident occurred on the morning of September 30 on flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. There were 174 passengers on board, including 27 children. The plane transmitted alarms, changed its route and landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The press service of flydubai in a comment to Radio RBC confirmed the landing and said that all passengers are safe.
Israeli Ambassador to Russia Oded Yosef in an interview with RBC Radio on October 1 named three alleged targets of the attack: to attack Israelis, undermine the spirit of the “Abraham Accords” and endanger the safety of civil aviation.
On October 3, UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi said the investigation revealed an attempt by the co-pilot to carry out a terrorist operation. According to him, al-Hammami attacked the commander in the cockpit with an emergency axe and tried to seize control of the aircraft.
Following the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed to check the safety of foreign civil aviation flying into the country, the prime minister's office said.
