ABU DHABI/JERUSALEM – Investigations into an incident aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 have found that the co-pilot attempted to commit a terrorist act, the attorney-general of the United Arab Emirates said on Saturday.

The co-pilot began carrying out the alleged plan during the flight, attacking the captain with a crash axe inside the cockpit and attempting to take control of the aircraft's flight controls, the Emirates News Agency quoted Hamad Saif Al Shamsi as saying.

Investigations are continuing to determine the full circumstances and motives behind the incident, as well as any possible links. Technical examinations and analyses of physical and digital evidence are also underway, he said.

The final results would be announced upon the completion of all necessary procedures, Al Shamsi added.

Flydubai flight FZ1073, with 174 people aboard, was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday when it was diverted and landed safely in the Saudi city of Tabuk.

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According to the Dubai-based airline, an altercation occurred in the cockpit during the flight, prompting crew members to intervene and secure the aircraft. Flydubai subsequently suspended flights to and from Israel.

On Thursday, the UAE attorney-general ordered a probe into the incident.

The UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash on Friday described the attack as a "terrorist act."

Stranded Israelis brought home

The first five rescue flights carrying Israelis stranded in Dubai landed at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on Saturday morning as part of an operation to bring them home, according to the Israel Airports Authority.

Thousands of Israelis were stranded in Dubai after Flydubai, the only airline operating the route to Tel Aviv, suspended its flights following the incident aboard its plane on Wednesday.

The rescue operation had been thrown into doubt after Emirati authorities banned passenger aircraft from carrying checked baggage, prompting the cancellation of rescue flights scheduled for Friday.

According to media reports, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz later instructed his ministry to send cargo aircraft to Dubai to transport the stranded passengers' luggage back to Israel, paving the way for the rescue flights to operate.

The five passenger flights that landed Saturday were operated by Israeli airlines Israir and Arkia.

Israel's national carrier El Al, which does not operate flights on Saturdays in observance of the Jewish Shabbat, is also expected to begin operating rescue flights from Dubai on Sunday.

Netanyahu: Co-pilot ‘came to crash the plane’

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the co-pilot involved in the Flydubai flight attack attempted to crash the aircraft.

"As time goes by, the picture becomes clearer," Netanyahu said in a recorded video statement, alleging that the co-pilot underwent "radicalization" and "came to crash the plane with all passengers on board."

"We are investigating whether he was sent, and whoever sent him will pay a very heavy price," he said.