Posts Linked to the Flydubai Suspect Appeared Nine Hours After the Attack. Who Put Them Up?

On Wednesday, September 30, 2026, a co-pilot on a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv allegedly stabbed the captain and tried to bring the plane down, according to CBS News. Passengers and off-duty pilots subdued him. The jet landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, with more than 170 people aboard. The captain was wounded, but CBS reported that no passengers were seriously hurt.

The suspect is Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani citizen whose name is spelled several ways in news reports. CNN identified him, according to its report as syndicated by WHAM 13. Then came a detail that has gotten less attention than it deserves: the timing of his social media.

What Appeared, and When

CNN reported that two posts appeared on a LinkedIn profile it linked to al-Hammami within about nine hours of Wednesday's attack. CBS reported that he was placed under arrest immediately after the landing in Saudi Arabia, so he was likely in custody when the posts went up, though no source says so directly. The posts have since been deleted.

According to The Week and Outlook India, both summarizing CNN, the first post was a set of cockpit video clips from a Boeing 737 MAX at Dubai International Airport, showing El Al aircraft, and ending with images of al-Qaeda figures Ayman al-Zawahiri and Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi. The second was an AI-generated image of Islam's three holiest sites, Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, with a poem about refusing humiliation and defending dignity. The syndicated CNN text describes the videos slightly differently, so the exact contents vary by account.

The Question No One Has Answered

Here is the problem. If he was already in custody, he could not have posted those items himself. So who did?

CNN said it was not clear who published the posts or whether they were scheduled in advance. Ynet, an Israeli news site, said the timing raised speculation that they were pre-scheduled. That is speculation, not an established fact. CNN reported that authorities have not publicly verified the accounts or said whether the posts were connected to the attack. Authorities have also not publicly established any organizational link between al-Hammami and al-Qaeda, according to Outlook India.

If the posts were scheduled, that points to planning. If someone else had access to the account, that is a different question with different answers. We do not know which, and anyone who tells you they do is guessing. Ynet also reported that investigators are examining whether he flew to Israel on earlier flights, which would contradict early official denials.

Earlier Red Flags, Reportedly

The posts are not the only open question. CBS reported that Oman Air, where al-Hammami worked briefly in pilot training, discovered he had visited radical websites and moved him to desk duty. He resigned around 2024. CBS reported that Flydubai hired him without vetting with the Omani government. Ynet reported that Oman Air suspended him in 2024 over "religious and jihadist radicalization," and said the Wall Street Journal was uncertain whether that information ever reached Flydubai.

Those accounts differ on what Flydubai knew, and we cannot resolve it. What both describe is a gap. Ynet quoted an Israeli source who called it a security failure on the Emirati side, and Ynet's article pointed out that there is no international blacklist for pilots flagged as radicalized.

The Daily Wire, citing reporting by the New York Post and The Telegraph, says an X account linked to al-Hammami contained misogynistic posts from his student years, and quotes an Israeli official describing his views as jihadist. We have not reviewed those posts ourselves.

What We Know and What We Don't

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot "underwent Islamist radical indoctrination." CBS reported that Netanyahu later said the motive was still unknown, and Flydubai said the reasons were unknown. President Trump suggested a possible Iran link. An Israeli official told Ynet that investigators have so far ruled out an apparent connection to Iran and believe he most likely acted alone. Al-Hammami was later transferred from Saudi Arabia to the UAE for questioning, according to Ynet.

Our Take

Two things should bother every American who flies.

First, a man whose own previous employer reportedly flagged him for radicalization ended up in a cockpit. Whether the warning never reached Flydubai or was never passed along, the lesson is the same: when a warning exists, it has to travel. Nobody should assume that can't happen on a flight with American passengers.

Second, the posts. We will not tell you what they mean, because no one in a position to know has said. The Times of Israel reported that conspiracy theories about the attack spread across social media, including posts blaming Israel or Jews for a "false flag." Neither conspiracy nor certainty helps. Ask who published those posts, when they were set up, and who had the password. Until investigators answer, the honest headline is the question itself.