Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated to CBS News Wednesday that the motive of the co-pilot accused of stabbing his fellow pilot
bound from Dubai to Tel Aviv is still unknown.
asserted
motive → indicate → Aviv
"I don't think it was a hijacking," Netanyahu told "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil.
asserted
Netanyahu → think → Dokoupil
"I think it looks like a suicide attempt simply because of what this hero Yaniv described when he went in," Netanyahu speculated, referring to Yaniv Hayoun, one of the passengers on the FlyDubai flight who has been credited with entering the cockpit and helping to subdue the attacker.
asserted
who → think → attacker
"This guy was trying to jam the equipment between the two flight seats, the pilot seats," Netanyahu said of the co-pilot.
asserted
Netanyahu → try → pilot
"He wasn't sitting in the pilot seat trying to stabilize the plane, he was trying to jam the equipment."
asserted
he → sit → equipment
According to Israeli officials, on Wednesday morning local time, the FlyDubai jet was about two hours into its flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the co-pilot stabbed the captain.
uncertain
pilot → accord → captain
Per data analyzed by CBS News partner network BBC News, the plane then plunged about 17,000 feet, climbed 5,000 feet, and then fell another 7,000 feet before stabilizing.
asserted
plane → analyze → feet
Israeli officials
said the captain, an Indian national, was able to fight off his co-pilot and unlock the cockpit door.
asserted
captain → say → door
Witnesses recounted how a group of passengers and crew members then stormed the cockpit and subdued the co-pilot.
asserted
group → recount → pilot
Two off-duty pilots then took control of the plane and made an emergency landing at an airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
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pilots → take → Tabuk
There were 174 people on board, Israeli officials said.
asserted
officials → be → board
Most of the passengers later boarded a replacement FlyDubai plane and were flown to Ben Gurion International Airport, arriving Wednesday night.
asserted
Most → board → Airport
An Omani official confirmed to CBS News that the attacker, whose name has not been released, was born in Oman and holds Omani citizenship.
asserted
name → confirm → citizenship
According to Netanyahu, he is currently being interrogated in Saudi Arabia.
uncertain
he → accord → Arabia
"He'll be, I assume, moved very quickly to Dubai," Netanyahu told CBS News, adding that Israeli authorities will "join the interrogation and find out what happened there exactly."
"It could be, I don't know, we'll find out soon," Netanyahu responded when asked if he thought the incident could have stemmed from a mental health issue and not an act of terrorism.
uncertain
incident → assume → terrorism
"We've had signs that Iran, and particularly through its proxies, was intending to heighten terrorist attacks against Israel and Israeli nationals abroad," Netanyahu added.
asserted
Netanyahu → have → Israel
"But I think it's too early to say whether there was Iranian collusion here.
asserted
it → think → ?
I think we'll find out, won't take a long time."
asserted
we → think → time
No definitive motive for the stabbing has been determined by authorities.
asserted
motive → determine → authorities
An Israeli security official previously told CBS News that investigators were looking into the possibility that the incident could have been an attempted Sept. 11-style terror attack.
uncertain
incident → tell → possibility
"At this early stage, the underlying reasons and motives behind this event are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation," FlyDubai said in its own statement.
asserted
FlyDubai → underlie → statement
It urged "all parties to refrain from premature speculation while authorities gather the facts."
asserted
authorities → urge → facts
The Aporia
