Flydubai captain says copilot attacked him while praying

The captain of the Flydubai passenger plane that nearly went down has revealed that he was attacked from behind after he let the copilot pray for a few minutes.

The captain shared the detail during a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday. The apparent assault occurred on Wednesday during the low-cost carrier's flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel.

The captain said the copilot told him that he wanted to pray. During the prayers, the captain did not look back at him. After four or five minutes, he was suddenly attacked from behind.

He said he tried to stop the attacker, but because of the initial blows his vision was reduced to almost nothing, and he was "completely blurred out."

The copilot, who is reportedly a citizen of Oman, apparently attempted to crash the aircraft after the assault.

The UAE news agency on Saturday cited investigators as saying that the copilot used a crash axe that was kept inside the cockpit for emergencies.

A major US newspaper said the copilot was transferred to an administrative division after he was found possessing materials related to extremists during an Oman Air training session two years ago. The motive of his attack remains unknown.