Dubai, Oct. 3 -- The investigation into the dramatic mid-air attack aboard a Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv has brought to the fore a troubling trail of radicalisation and extremist influence involving the Omani co-pilot who attacked Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar in a terror-driven attempt to bring down the aircraft.

According to a report by Israel's Channel 12, investigators have found that the co-pilot underwent a process of indoctrination into "al-Qaeda's ideology" and had meetings with unspecified religious figures as part of what investigators believe was his radicalisation.

The Omani co-pilot has been identified as Hamam Alhamami, according to Al Arabiya English sources, and he was previously barred from flying in Oman o...