New Zealand reviews accused Flydubai co-pilot’s training stay

New Zealand police say the co-pilot accused of attacking a captain aboard a Flydubai flight spent part of 2018 and 2019 in the country completing a portion of his flight training for a UK-based company that no longer operates there. Police are reviewing records and making enquiries about his time in New Zealand, but have not reported findings from that review. Assistant Commissioner Michael Johnson said immigration records showed the man arrived on November 30, 2018, and left on May 23, 2019. Police said he was in the country on a six-month student visa. One report described the stay as 175 days; the police statement separately characterized the visa as six months. Police did not name the UK-based company or specify where in New Zealand the training took place. Their statement said the company no longer operates in the country. A separate report identified L3 Airline Academy as a school where the co-pilot trained between 2018 and 2019 and said its owner, Acron Aviation, was assisting investigators. The available accounts do not establish whether that school was the company referred to by police. The New Zealand enquiries form part of efforts to examine the co-pilot’s background.