One day after a FlyDubai co-pilot made aviolent attempt to crash the passenger aircraftand was subdued by passengers and other crew members, questions about his identity and motive continued to swirl Thursday.

The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was approaching Israel when the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the flight captain and attempted to crash the aircraft, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said. The captain was able to fight off the co-pilot long enough to unlock the cockpit door. Passengers then overpowered the co-pilot, and two off-duty pilots who were on the flight managed to gain control of the aircraft and make an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

There were 174 peopleaboard the plane. No passengers were seriously injured in the incident. The pilot sustained stab wounds in the attack. Saudi authorities said two crew members were hospitalized with unspecified injuries, and the co-pilot remained in custody on Thursday.

The co-pilot of the flight has not yet been publicly identified.

An Omani official confirmed to CBS News that the attacker was born in Oman and currently holds Omani citizenship, but the Omani government has not publicly confirmed his nationality.

The co-pilot’s motive in the alleged attack remains unknown.

“As time passes, the picture is becoming clearer; the attacker underwent Islamist radicalization. He came to crash the plane with its passengers,” Netanyahu said in a statement Friday. “We are investigating whether he was dispatched, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price.”

Netanyahuspeculated to CBS News on Wednesdaythat the incident looked “like a suicide attempt,” referring to witnesses who said the co-pilot had tried to jam the plane’s equipment instead of stabilizing the aircraft. After passengers subdued the co-pilot, he shouted for someone to kill him, Netanyahu told Fox News on Thursday.

In the same interview with Fox, Netanyahu said “personal information” gathered during ongoing questioning had led Israel to the conclusion that the co-pilot “underwent Islamist radical indoctrination.” He did not offer more information.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday called the incident “an attempted jihadist terror attack,” and referred to the co-pilot as a “terrorist.”

President Trump suggested Thursdaythat the co-pilot may be linked to Iran, “based on what I’m hearing.”

“We’re working on it right now,” Mr. Trump said. “They’re being very open with us. I would say the answer, based on what I’m hearing, is yes. But we’re working on it right now.”

Source: CBS News