Flydubai attacker began a 'drift towards extremism and terrorism' in Australia, UAE says
The score shows how well the checked facts are backed by independent sources at the time of the check. It is not a verdict of absolute truth, and not a rating of the publisher.
High confidence How is this calculated?
- 7 confirmed
- 0 contradicted
- 1 could not be verified
- 4 not checked
Verified facts
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Confirmed UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi alleged the Flydubai co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami was trying to crash the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight into Tel Aviv's airport in a "suicide attack".
AI Multiple results attribute to the UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi a statement that the co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami planned to seize the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight and crash it into the Tel Aviv-area airport (Ben Gurion) in a suicide-style attack. The exact wording "trying" versus "planned" is not checked, but the core of the claim is supported.
- reuters.com UAE says Omani flydubai co-pilot planned suicide attack on Tel Aviv flight | Reuters supports
- wbaltv.com Alleged Flydubai hijacker planned ‘suicide attack’ on Tel Aviv - WBAL supports
- ktul.com FlyDubai co-pilot allegedly plotted 9/11-style attack on Israeli airport, UAE says supports
- aljazeera.com Flydubai co-pilot plotted ‘suicide’ attack on Israel, UAE says | Aviation News | Al Jazeera supports
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Confirmed The Flydubai co-pilot wounded the captain in the cockpit with an emergency crash axe before being overpowered by passengers, and another crew member landed the aircraft in Saudi Arabia.
AI Result [1] states the first officer attacked Captain Smit Machchhar with the cockpit's emergency crash axe, and that a reserve pilot on board took control and landed the aircraft in Saudi Arabia. Result [2] corroborates the cockpit attack and the diversion to Saudi Arabia. The snippets do not mention passengers overpowering the co-pilot, so that detail could not be checked.
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Confirmed Melbourne university RMIT confirmed the pilot had studied there but left before completing his engineering qualification.
AI Multiple results state that RMIT confirmed the pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, was enrolled there but did not complete an engineering qualification. The results say he failed to finish rather than explicitly that he left, but this is consistent with the claim.
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Confirmed The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported the man was issued an Australian student visa in 2014 and studied in Australia in 2015-17 before leaving.
AI The first result states that the ABC reported the man was issued an Australian student visa in 2014 and studied in Australia in 2015-17 before leaving, matching the claim. The second result independently reports the same 2014 visa and 2015-2017 study period, citing ABC.
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Confirmed Shamsi said the findings indicated the pilot's "drift towards extremism and terrorism" first emerged in 2017, while he was studying in Australia.
AI Multiple results attribute the statement to UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi, saying signs of the pilot's 'drift towards extremism and terrorism' first emerged in 2017 while he was studying in Australia. The results do not add any detail that contradicts this.
- yahoo.com Flydubai attacker began a 'drift towards extremism and terrorism' in Australia, UAE says supports
- abc.net.au Investigators say flydubai co-pilot's 'drift towards terrorism' started in Australia - ABC News supports
- aljazeera.com Flydubai co-pilot plotted ‘suicide’ attack on Israel, UAE says | Aviation News | Al Jazeera supports
- reuters.com UAE says Omani flydubai co-pilot planned suicide attack on Tel Aviv flight | Reuters supports
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Confirmed The Sydney Morning Herald unearthed tweets from the pilot's now-deleted X account in which he described his five years studying abroad in Australia, Britain and New Zealand as "the golden years of my religious commitment".
AI Result 1 states that the Sydney Morning Herald unearthed tweets from the now-deleted X account describing five years abroad in Australia, Britain and New Zealand as "the golden years of my religious commitment". Result 2, from the SMH, reports the same "golden years" description of his time in Australia, though it does not mention the five-year span or the other countries.
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Confirmed The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, made up of the AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO, said it was "investigating the man's links to Australia".
AI The Taylorville Daily News result quotes the statement that the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, comprising the AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO, 'can confirm it is investigating the man's links to Australia.' The quote is attributed to an AFP spokesperson speaking for the team, which is a minor attribution detail, and the results do not show any different wording.
Could not verify
No independent source settled these either way. That doesn’t mean they are wrong.
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Unverified Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on 30 September carried more than 170 passengers and crew.
AI The results confirm the route, date (30 September), and flight number FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, but none of them state how many passengers and crew were on board, so the more-than-170 figure cannot be checked.
Not checked
We check a limited number of facts per article to keep the service free. These don’t count towards the score.
- Regional officials said Oman Air barred the co-pilot from flying and moved him to an administrative job because of concerns about his extremist views.
- Flydubai hired the co-pilot after standard security checks that did not examine his background for potential signs of radicalisation, according to regional officials.
- Israeli aviation regulations do not permit pilots who are citizens of countries without formal diplomatic relations with Israel, such as Oman, to operate flights to the country.
- Indian co-pilot Capt Smit Machchhar unlocked the cockpit door while being attacked with an axe, allowing passengers to enter and take control of the aircraft.
Author’s assumptions
Predictions or inferences in the article. They can’t be fact-checked.
- Questions are being asked about major security lapses, including how the attacker was recruited by Flydubai and cleared to fly a plane full of Israelis to Tel Aviv.
Opinions
Views and judgements, the author’s or someone quoted. Not fact-checked.
- Indian co-pilot Capt Smit Machchhar has been hailed a hero for his actions during the cockpit attack.