DUBAI: The pilot of a FlyDubai flight stabbed another pilot and tried to crash the plane full of Israelis, Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday. The Israeli prime minister said passengers and crew members on the flight managed to subdue the attacker, preventing a “major disaster.” Another air crew member on the plane entered the cockpit and "managed to stabilize the aircraft," Netanyahu said. FlyDubai said a fight between pilots on the plane traveling from Dubai International Airport to Israel's Ben Gurion forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk airport. "The aircraft was successfully secured by on-duty FlyDubai crew traveling on the flight, who diverted and landed the aircraft safely at Tabuk airport," the airline said. "All passengers and crew are safe and accounted for." The airline said the "underlying reasons and motives behind this event" are unknown and remain subject to a formal investigation. Netanyahu and other senior Israelis, however, said the incident was an attempted terrorist attack. “I salute these heroes who showed exceptional resourcefulness and courage," Netanyahu said in a video. "They saved many lives and prevented a major disaster." Defense Minister Israel Katz described the incident as "an attempted jihadist terror attack" that was "thwarted only thanks to the heroism of several Israeli passengers." The FlyDubai flight issued an emergency alert at about at about 8.30 a.m. local time in Saudi Arabia - two and a half hours after leaving Dubai - and after suddenly descending thousands of meters. Israeli media reported that the pilot suffered multiple stab wounds. Aviation experts Flightradar24 said Flight FZ1073 initially transmitted squawk code 7700, indicating an emergency state, before the pilot activated code 7500 seven minutes later, signifying a plane hijacking. About 20 minutes later, Netanyahu and Katz held a security meeting as fears of a hijacking began to grow. A report was then received stating that the plane was being diverted to Saudi Arabia with two Israeli fighter jets following. Prince Sultan Bin Abdel Aziz Airport in Tabuk confirmed that the FlyDubai plane made an emergency landing this morning at 9:45 a.m. local time in Saudi Arabia. "The airport declared the appropriate emergency response level as per the established protocols to assist the distressed aircraft," the statement said. "It was found that the captain and first officer sustained injuries, and were immediately transferred to hospital to receive the necessary medical care. "Passengers were provided with the necessary assistance at the terminal, while coordination is underway with FlyDubai to arrange a replacement aircraft." Moments of chaos Israeli media cited passengers speaking of “amounts of blood in the cockpit.” Videos circulating on social media appeared to show passengers aboard the FlyDubai flight, reportedly Israeli nationals, in distress. A passenger reportedly had heard screaming and said that a man holding a knife had forced one of the pilots onto the floor, according to Reuters. Arab News could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage or the circumstances in which it was recorded. A passenger was quoted by i24News speaking of the moment he realised something was wrong, and how passengers thought they might die. “For several minutes we were certain we will be murdered or crash … Screams were heard coming from the cockpit,” the passenger said. “The Israeli passengers grabbed the attacker and pinned him to the floor … There were moments when we thought we wouldn’t make it out alive.” According to Flightradar24, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft descended from around 10,000 meters to 5,100 meters in about the space of a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border. *With Reuters, AP and AFP