It is too early to say if Iran had any involvement in an attack by a pilot who stabbed another pilot and tried to take over a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel’s prime minister has said.

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.

The stabbed pilot, Indian national Captain Smit Machchhar, is in hospital in a stable condition, and has been hailed a “true hero” by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

One passenger, Yaniv Hayun, described how he put the attacker, who was trying to disable the plane, in a chokehold before other passengers helped pin him down.

The alleged attacker, who was arrested in Saudi Arabia, is expected to be transferred to the United Arab Emirates, where the plane took off from, Netanyahu told Fox News.

Asked whether there was any indication as of now of Iran’s involvement, he replied: “It’s too early to say”. He added that the pilot was “now being investigated in Saudi Arabia”.

Meanwhile, he and India’s leader Narendra Modi called stabbed pilot Machchhar a “hero”.

“Despite being stabbed and seriously injured, he fought back, resisted, opened the cockpit door, and enabled passengers and crew to overpower the attacker – preventing a catastrophic mid-air disaster,” Netanyahu wrote on X.