KATHMANDU: Investigators in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have said that the co-pilot of a Flydubai flight to Israel this week planned to commit a “terrorist act” and attacked the captain with an “axe” in the cockpit. However, they have not yet revealed the motive of the co-pilot who carried out the attack.

On Wednesday’s flight, the Indian pilot (captain) was attacked by his co-pilot and the pilot was able to open the cockpit door and the plane was saved from a major accident. The passengers and other crew members then took control of the attacker and made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

The country’s official WAM news agency reported on Saturday that preliminary findings of the UAE investigation did not reveal the nationality of the co-driver, but a Saudi source confirmed to AFP that the co-driver was Omani.

Media reports also said that he was banned from flying in his home country due to extremist views.

The Israeli Airports Authority said the first flight carrying Israelis home from the United Arab Emirates had landed in Tel Aviv. Services were suspended after the attack.

“The co-pilot appears to have attempted to commit a terrorist act” and “attempted to take control of the plane by attacking the captain of the cockpit with an emergency axe,” WAM quoted UAE Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi as saying of the initial findings.

The passengers said they went to the cockpit and took on a controlling role. After the attack on the pilot, the plane lost an altitude of about 17,000 feet and went down into the sky in a minute, according to data from the website Flightradar-24.

The injured captain who opened the cockpit door has been honored as a hero. On Saturday, a photo of the UAE’s Deputy Prime Minister Hamdan bin Mohammed meeting him in a hospital bed has surfaced.

The pilot, Smit Mosquito, displayed “the highest level of courage, responsibility and care for human life,” a UAE official posted on X.

Meanwhile, the co-pilot has been detained in the UAE. Several media outlets have identified the co-pilot as Hammam al-Hammami and said he was banned from flying in Oman due to extremist views.

‘Affected by extremist influences’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot was piloted by suspected Islamic extremists and tried to crash the plane.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported on Friday that Omani authorities had banned him from flying on suspicion of having an extremist ideological viewpoint.

CNN reported, citing two sources, that he was fired from his job with Oman’s national airline last year. Al Arabiya also quoted informed sources as saying that Omani authorities have concluded that the co-pilot held extremist views.

The broadcaster said he had spent time in Syria and was suspected of being influenced by extremist groups there. ABC News reported, citing senior intelligence and law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation, alleging that material matching extremist views had been found with the suspect during training.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Tehran that it would be hit “very hard” if Iran was found to be linked to the attack. Netanyahu said an investigation would begin on how the co-pilot was allowed to work on the country’s flights.

“We have such sanctions that the drivers of countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel can’t be,” Netanyahu told Fox News. ”