Australian police probe FlyDubai co-pilot’s links to Australia

An Australian Federal Police counterterrorism team is investigating the FlyDubai co-pilot’s links to the country following an incident earlier this week.

The investigation is being conducted by the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team, comprising the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Victoria Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), an AFP spokesperson said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

The investigation comes after the UAE said Saturday that a probe into the violent incident on Wednesday’s flight, which was carrying 174 passengers, found that the co-pilot had tried to carry out a “terrorist act” by attacking the captain with a crash axe.

The co-pilot tried to use the axe, a tool kept in the cockpit for emergency use, to attack the captain and seize control of the aircraft, Attorney General Hamad Saif al-Shamsi said. UAE authorities did not announce the co-pilot’s name or nationality.

FlyDubai said earlier that “an altercation occurred in the flight deck” and that crew members secured the aircraft before it was safely diverted to Saudi Arabia.

The AFP spokesperson said an update would be provided “at an appropriate time.”

According to ABC sources, the co-pilot was issued a student visa in 2014 and studied in Australia between 2015 and 2017, after which he left the country.

His visa was canceled in 2019 due to his lack of enrollment in a course, according to the media outlet.