The co-pilot of a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv tried to crash the plane after stabbing the pilot, but passengers then held him down while other pilots landed the plane safely in Saudi Arabia, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Describing the Wednesday event as “a highly severe security incident,” Mr Netanyahu said Saudi authorities would interrogate the co-pilot of flydubai flight FZ1073 from the United Arab Emirates to Israel.

Mr Netanyahu said the alleged assailant, whom an Israeli official identified as an Omani national, was arrested after the plane landed.

“All passengers are out of harm’s way,” Mr Netanyahu, who described the passengers as being almost all Israeli, said in a video statement released by his office.

The Israeli leader quoted a passenger as saying that passengers and a member of the crew broke into the cockpit after the aircraft “entered a tailspin and began to dive” and found the co-pilot “trying to sabotage the plane’s systems.”

“They saved many lives. They prevented a heavy disaster,” he said.

An Israeli official earlier told Reuters the plane transmitted emergency signals.

The aircraft’s data appeared to show that it had suddenly and rapidly descended by nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before a first emergency signal was sent, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

Around the time the plane landed in Saudi Arabia, Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office, told Reuters the incident was not believed to ⁠have been a hijacking, describing it as a “different incident.”

The Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said Israel’s current assessment indicated that the incident was an attempted “terror attack” and not related to any kind of mental health issue with either of the pilots. 

Citing his conversation with an Israeli on board the Flydubai plane, the Israeli prime minister said he was told how they “managed to break into the cockpit with one of the crew members, and that together they neutralized the stabbing pilot while he was trying to sabotage the plane’s systems. Another flight crew on board entered the cockpit and managed to stabilize the plane.”

He added, “I salute these heroes, who displayed exceptional resourcefulness and courage. They saved many lives. They prevented a huge disaster.”

Earlier on Wednesday, a Flydubai plane carrying passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia due to the incident.

Flightradar24, a flight tracking website, said the Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel signalled an emergency code amid the journey. 

Footage of the pilot stabbed and blood stained interior of the plane have gone viral since the incident.

Flydubai confirmed its flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Israel experienced an incident en route and landed safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.