A pilot stabbed another pilot on a FlyDubai flight, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He tried to crash the plane, which was flying from the UAE to Israel.

The plane was going from Dubai to Tel Aviv with about 170 passengers.

Many of them were Israelis.

It lost half its altitude in about a minute.

It dropped from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet.

Israel sent fighter jets because it feared a possible hijacking.

A passenger and a crew member broke into the cockpit and stopped the attacker, Netanyahu said.

Other crew members then took control.

They landed the plane safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, about an hour later.

Both pilots were hurt and needed hospital treatment, the airport in Tabuk said.

Netanyahu said Saudi Arabia had arrested one of the pilots.

The distress call came at 8:44 a.m. local time.

This was about two and a half hours after the flight left Dubai.

It is not clear what motivated the attack.

A plane carrying passengers from the flight landed in Israel on Wednesday evening.

The cockpit door is locked during flights for security.

This became a standard after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

It is unclear how the passenger and crew member got in.

It is also unclear how a knife got on board.

Pilots pass through metal detectors and undergo strict screening.

The incident has renewed concerns about airline security.

In 2015, a Germanwings co-pilot locked the captain out.

He deliberately crashed a plane, killing all 150 people aboard.