Jerusalem: The flydubai co-pilot who allegedly stabbed his captain in a suspected attempt to crash the plane last week told interrogators in the United Arab Emirates he planned to do so before being hired by the airline, according to two Israeli officials with knowledge of the probe.

A third source briefed on the UAE investigation said the co-pilot, Omani national Hamam al-Hammami, planned to crash Wednesday’s flight into Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. He had also operated a flight to Tel Aviv earlier this year and intended to hijack and crash the plane then, but chose not to, the source said.

It was not immediately clear why the co-pilot changed his mind on that previous flight, although he is thought to have known someone onboard, the source said.

The sources all spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. UAE and Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did flydubai.

On Monday night, RMIT university confirmed reports that al-Hammami was a student of theirs between 2015 and 2017, though he did not complete his undergraduate mechanical engineering degree.

“RMIT has been [helping] the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team with their investigation and importantly, there is no security threat to RMIT,” acting vice-chancellor Catherine Itsiopoulos wrote in a confidential email to the institution’s leadership team.

Al-Hammami, the co-pilot on flydubai flight FZ1073, which was bound for Israel from Dubai last Wednesday, attacked the pilot with an emergency crash axe, the UAE prosecutor general has said. The prosecutor called the incident a “terrorist attack”.

The airline and Israeli and UAE officials have not named the co-pilot but have said he is from Oman. Two sources have confirmed his identity as Hamam al-Hammami.

Reuters has been unable to independently reach al-Hammami, who is in UAE custody, for comment. The UAE has not announced any formal charges against him and it is not known if he has appointed legal counsel. Oman has not commented on the incident.

The two Israeli officials said the co-pilot told interrogators he had applied for a job at Dubai state-owned flydubai after searching for airlines that flew to Tel Aviv.

The third source said the UAE was continually updating Israel about the investigation.

A disaster on board flight FZ1073 was averted when passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot after he allegedly stabbed the pilot.

The pilot, Indian national Smit Machchhar, survived the attack and has been hailed as a hero for managing to open the cockpit door to allow passengers to subdue the co-pilot.

The plane was carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, most of them Israeli.

A reserve flydubai pilot travelling ​on the flight took control of ⁠the aircraft and landed it at a regional airport in north-western Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained by Saudi authorities and then transferred to the UAE on Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said pilots who are citizens of countries that Israel does not have diplomatic relations with, such as Oman, are not permitted to operate flights to Israel.

It is unclear how the co-pilot came to be assigned to the flight to Tel Aviv, and Netanyahu has since ordered a review of foreign airlines flying to Israel.

New Zealand Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Johnson said on Monday that the co-pilot had spent time in the country and that NZ police were looking into the period. He did not say when the co-pilot allegedly visited the country or name him.

A multi-agency Australian counter-terrorism unit is investigating ​links to Australia of the co-pilot, who was once enrolled at RMIT University in Melbourne.

Reuters with Alexander Darling

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