The UAE prosecutor general has ordered an investigation into the incident ⁠aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, which was diverted and landed in Saudi Arabia after an altercation in the ⁠cockpit, the state ⁠news agency there reported on ⁠Thursday.

The investigation will examine the circumstances and motives, including whether it was linked to any militant activity or involved prior planning or direction.

UAE judicial authorities have jurisdiction over the incident because the aircraft is registered in the UAE and flies under its flag, the statement said, adding that UAE law applies to crimes committed on board "even if they occur outside the country's territory".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier credited the flydubai pilot, Indian national Smit Machchhar, as well as passengers with averting catastrophe, after a co-pilot allegedly stabbed him and tried to crash the plane.

In a Fox News interview Netanyahu also praised an Israeli passenger who helped overpower the attacker, identifying him only as Yanik and describing him as a plumber.

"An amazing act of heroism – of his, of the Indian pilot, of the people who helped them. They stopped a disaster that could have been global," he said.

India's embassy in Saudi Arabia said Machchhar was being treated at a hospital in the country and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as a "HERO" in a social media post on Thursday.

"His valour helped save hundreds of lives," Modi said. (Reuters/AFP)


Edited by Aaron Tam