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

The plane was flying from the United Arab Emirates to Israel.

It was carrying about 170 passengers, many of them Israelis.

The plane 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 subdued the attacker, Netanyahu said.

Other crew members then took control of the plane.

They landed it 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 and deliberately crashed a plane.

All 150 people aboard were killed.