Counter-terrorism authorities are probing the Australian links of the FlyDubai co-pilot accused of trying to crash the flight by attacking the plane’s captain with an axe.

Hamam al-Hammami was named by media outlets over the weekend at the c0-pilot who allegedly tried to seize control of the commercial flight en route to Israel with mostly Israeli passengers on board. 

He allegedly struck the pilot with a cockpit crash axe and attempted to take over the plane in an incident being treated as a terrorist attack, say United Arab Emirates officials leading the investigation.

His actions nearly crashed the flight with 182 people on board before passengers and others rushed in and subdued him.

Authorities are probing whether al-Hammami was radicalised in Australia amid multiple US media reports that his now-deleted LinkedIn profile said he studied engineering at an Australian university.

The New York Times reported the pilot had studied at RMIT University in Victoria.

The Australian Financial Review said he was granted a student visa in Australia in 2014 and it was ended in 2019 after routine checks found he had left the country.

The ABC reported after receiving a student visa in 2104, al-Hammami studied in Australia between 2015 and 2017.

His visa was cancelled in 2019, reportedly due to his lack of enrolment in a course.

Victorian Premier Ben Carroll said the co-pilot’s links to his state were “concerning”.

“I will follow that up as a matter of priority,” he said.

“I met with the prime minister last week, and will always continue to work with our law enforcement agencies to keep Victoria safe.”

Al-Hammami reportedly went on to study at New Buckinghamshire University in Britain, graduating with a degree in aviation management in 2023.

The Australian Federal Police confirmed on Sunday the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team was investigating the pilot’s potential domestic connections.

The task force consists of officers from the AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO.

The AFP said that an update on the investigation would be provided at an appropriate time.

An Omani national, al-Hammami had been barred from flying on his nation’s airline because of concerns about his extremist views, officials said.

A regional official and a person familiar with the matter said the co-pilot had been moved to an administrative job at Oman Air over concerns he had adopted extremist views.

He was later hired by UAE-based airline FlyDubai, the person said.

It was not immediately clear to what extent the co-pilot was vetted.

The official also said security agencies from four regional countries were working to establish the co-pilot’s motives, aided by the United States and other Western governments.

A FlyDubai spokesperson said in an email that the airline could not comment beyond its official statements and acknowledged “there are many questions at this stage”.

-with AAP, Reuters and AP