The UAE's attorney general said the co-pilot of a flydubai flight to Israel had planned a "terrorist act" and used the cockpit's emergency axe to attack the captain, the official UAE news agency WAM reported on Saturday.
The news agency quoted Attorney General Hamad Saif Al Shamsi as saying that according to the initial findings of an investigation, "the co-pilot had attempted to carry out a terrorist act" and had "attacked the captain in the cockpit with the emergency axe and tried to take control of the aircraft".
A crash axe is typically kept in the cockpit for use during emergencies such as crashes.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances of the incident, the motives and any related connections, as well as to examine physical and digital evidence, he added.
The UAE attorney general's comments were the first by Emirati authorities to describe the incident as an attempted "terrorist" attack.
Disaster was averted on Wednesday after passengers and crew subdued the co-pilot, who had attacked the captain in what Israeli officials said was an apparent attempt to crash the plane carrying more than 170 passengers and crew.
A reserve flydubai pilot travelling on the flight took control of the aircraft and landed it at Tabuk airport in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where the co-pilot was detained by Saudi authorities.
flydubai said the circumstances surrounding the incident were still under investigation and that it was not in a position to comment further.
An Israeli government official told Reuters earlier that Israeli investigators would take part alongside Emirati authorities in the UAE-led investigation, which would examine what happened as well as the suspect's motives and background.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel was looking into whether the co-pilot had acted under anyone's direction, warning that anyone involved would pay a "heavy price".
Netanyahu said on Thursday that the co-pilot, whom he identified as an Omani national, had undergone radical indoctrination and appeared suicidal, though he said a motive had not yet been established. Most of the passengers on board were Israeli nationals.
The aircraft had dropped about 16,625 feet in just over 30 seconds while flying over Saudi Arabia on its journey from the UAE to Israel, according to flight-tracking data from Flightradar24. The route is popular among Israeli travellers.
