India, Oct. 1 -- The co-pilot of the flydubai plane who reportedly attacked captain Smit Machchhar in an alleged attempt to crash the aircraft was described as a "religious extremist" by another flydubai pilot.

He described the co-pilot of FZ1073 as unusual and said he displayed extreme religious behaviour. "He prayed excessively throughout the day and refused to shake hands with women," the pilot told Channel 16's foreign correspondent Yosef Yisrael.

The co-pilot reportedly joined the airline eight months ago and was an Omani national. Israel has called the incident a terror attack. However, the UAE and flydubai have both, in their respective statements, so far refrained from calling it one.

The UAE has said it will investigate the in...