// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Netanyahu says flight attacker 'underwent Islamist radical indoctrination'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says investigations suggest the man who stabbed his fellow pilot and tried to take over a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv had undergone "Islamist radical indoctrination".
The Flydubai plane plunged more than 17,000ft (5,200m) two hours into its journey on Wednesday, before passengers and crew overpowered the attacker and retook control to land safely.
Speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu also said it was looking "very likely" that the attacker, who he said was an Omani national, "was going to down the plane".
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) state news agency reports investigations have begun there to determine "whether the incident was linked to any terrorist activity or purpose".
Passenger Almog Itali said it felt like a "rollercoaster" as Flight FZ1073 fell 17,000ft in less than two minutes
The co-pilot is currently being questioned in Saudi Arabia, where the plane made an emergency landing. However UAE officials say they have jurisdiction over the incident because the aircraft on which the attack took place is registered there and flies under its flag.
Netanyahu told Fox that once the attacker had been subdued and tied up by passengers and crew, he was "calling out to the aircrew 'kill me, kill me', so it's clear he was suicidal that's not a question".
"And with all the passengers in there, and if you couple that with what I just told you about the Islamist tendencies, that radicalisation that were found in his background, I think ... that'll give us a pretty good clue but again I don't make final conclusions yet but that's the indications we have now."
The prime minister was also asked earlier on the same network whether there was an indication if Iran was involved, he replied: "It's too early to say".
Flydubai passenger describes hugging his children as plane nosedived during attack