Netanyahu says flight attacker 'underwent Islamist radical indoctrination'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu notes investigations suggest the man who stabbed his fellow pilot and tried to take over a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination".

Key points

• Both Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked the stabbed pilot, Indian national Capt Smit Machchhar was a "hero".
• Two hours afterwards, the 17, 000ft drop in altitude was noted on the plane tracking website Flightradar24 and minutes afterwards the plane signalled an emergency code.
• The Transportation Ministry additionally stated it sent an urgent request to Etihad Airlines to growth the number of flights between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv.
• Israeli airlines including El Al, Israir and Arkia remarked aims were in place to operate rescue flights from Dubai starting on Friday to bring back stranded passengers.
• Speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu additionally stated it was looking "very likely" that the attacker.

Notably, the Flydubai plane plunged more than 17, 000ft (5, 200m) two hours into its journey on Wednesday, before passengers and crew overpowered the attacker and retook control to land safely.

Speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu additionally stated it was looking "very likely" that the attacker. This person he noted was an Omani national, "was going to down the plane".

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) state news agency reports investigations have begun there to determine "whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose".

Meanwhile, the co-pilot is at present being questioned in Saudi Arabia, where the plane produced an emergency landing. Nevertheless UAE office-holders say they have jurisdiction over the incident since the aircraft on which the attack took place is registered there and flies under its flag.

Netanyahu informed Fox that once the attacker had been subdued and tied up by passengers and crew, he was "calling out to the aircrew 'kill me, kill me', so it's clear he was suicidal that's not a question".

"And with all the passengers in there, and if you couple that with what I just told you about the Islamist tendencies, that radicalisation that were found in his background, I think. That'll give us a pretty good clue but again I don't make final conclusions yet but that's the indications we have now."

Meanwhile, the prime minister was additionally asked earlier on the same network whether there was an indication if Iran was involved, he replied: "It's too early to say". Flydubai passenger describes hugging his children as plane nosedived during attack.

Who is the 'hero' Indian pilot who was stabbed on Israel-bound flight?

For context, the attacker was arrested in Saudi Arabia and is projected to be transferred to the UAE, Netanyahu stated.

India's ambassador to the UAE Deepak Mittal visited Captain Machhar in hospital on Thursday, the Indian Mission confirmed on social media, stating he was "in good health and recovering well".

Preliminary findings from a separate Israeli investigation into the incident, suggest that the alleged attacker intended to crash the plane, an Israeli security source informed BBC Arabic.

Meanwhile, the source remarked the investigation – led by Israel's intelligence agency Mossad – interviewed passengers after they arrived in Tel Aviv to establish what had happened on the plane.

Flydubai's flight FZ1073, with more than 170 individuals on board, took off from Dubai International Airport in the UAE at 03: 05 GMT (07: 05 local time), en route to Ben Gurion Airport.

At regarding 05: 40, the plane – which had briefly entered Jordanian airspace – looped back into Saudi Arabia, where it afterwards began its manual descent, landing safely at Tabuk Airport in the north west of Saudi.

Flydubai has since suspended flights between Dubai and Tel Aviv as it carried out its own investigation into the incident. Israel's Transportation Ministry remarked the suspension aligns with Netanyahu's directive.

Notably, the Transportation Ministry additionally stated it sent an urgent request to Etihad Airlines to growth the number of flights between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv.

In short, netanyahu says flight attacker ' underwent Islamist radical indoctrination&#039 is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.