The co-pilot who attempted to take control of a Flydubai plane travelling to Israel attacked the pilot with a crash axe, the United Arab Emirates prosecutor general has said.

The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv carrying more than 170 people plunged 17,000ft (5,200m) two and a half hours into its journey, before passengers managed to overpower the attacker and successfully take control of the plane.

Capt Smit Machchhar said he was lying on the floor injured when he realised the plane was sinking and he had to act, explaining: “I told myself to go for one last push to open the door from inside”, which allowed the passengers in.

Two reserve pilots then landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia.

A crash axe is usually kept ​in the cockpit in case of emergencies.

The weapon used has been a key question for investigators, given the stringent security on such a sensitive route. Early reports from passengers on board had suggested it might have been a knife.

The UAE attorney general told state media that investigations were ongoing to determine the full circumstances and motives of the incident.

The co-pilot who launched the attack was an Omani national, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Multiple media outlets including Reuters, CNN and The New York Times have named him as Hamam al-Hammami. There has been no official confirmation of this.

While working at another airline, Oman Air, US media reported that Al-Hammami was removed from flight training because of concerns over his radical views, and was given another role at Oman’s national airline.

He completed a three-year distance-learning course at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK and graduated with a degree in aviation management in 2023, the university said. It added he did not take any pilot training at the school.

Speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu said that after the attacker was subdued on the flight, he called out to the crew “Kill me, kill me!”

The Israeli prime minister added: “So, it’s clear that he was suicidal… It looks very likely that he was going to down the plane.”

He also said the attacker “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination”.

The UAE has begun investigating whether the “incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose”, according to the country’s state news agency.

Machchhar, who was stabbed in the attack, was taken to a nearby hospital before being airlifted to Abu Dhabi, where he is reported to be in a stable condition.

The pilot, who is from India, was in “good health and recovering well”, the Indian embassy in the UAE said on Thursday.

“I am confident that the recovery will be there and I will become fit and healthy again,” Machchhar said.