DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates announced on Thursday it was probing a possible "terrorist" link to an apparent attack by a pilot on board a flight to Israel that saw passengers reroute the plane to stop it from crashing.

 

Passengers described rushing the cockpit after the plane suddenly plummeted, losing around 17,000 feet of altitude in the span of a minute, according to the Flightradar24 website.

 

The UAE's chief prosecutor said an investigation had been launched into the incident, including the possibility of "terrorist activity or intent".

 

Airline flydubai has said all the passengers -- of whom 166 out of 174 were Israeli, according to media reports -- were safe, adding that the reasons for the altercation were unknown.

 

"During the flight, as they approached the country, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently tried to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video message.

 

"I salute these heroes," he said of the passengers, adding "they prevented a major disaster".

 

He later hailed the wounded pilot, Machchhar, "for his extraordinary bravery", saying he fought off his copilot, preventing a "catastrophic mid-air disaster".

 

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.

 

'Out of control'

 

AFPTV images showed another flydubai plane carrying the passengers touch down at Tel Aviv airport, hours after their initial flight was diverted to Saudi Arabia's Tabuk.

 

Footage shared by Netanyahu's office showed the premier meeting passengers after their arrival in Tel Aviv and embracing a man in a bloodied shirt.

 

Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon described the plane as being "pretty much out of control" as the incident unfolded over Jordan.

 

"The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane," she told reporters by speakerphone held up by her mother at Ben Gurion Airport.

 

"It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralised him," she said.

 

The airline said it was another "on-duty flydubai crew travelling on the flight who diverted and landed the aircraft safely" and that it was suspending flights to Israel while an investigation took place.