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An investigation into the midair attack aboard a commercial flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv last week has found that the co-pilot who tried to take control of the plane intended to crash it into Israel's Ben Gurion Airport.

That's according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to speak publicly.

Investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

For more, we're joined by NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv.

Hi, Kat.

Hey, good morning.

So there are several countries conducting investigations into this attack, so what do we know?

Well, over the weekend, officials in the United Arab Emirates, which is leading the investigation, announced that they had deemed the incident a terrorist attack.

That assessment agreed with what Israeli officials had been saying earlier.

We still don't have a clear motive for the attack.

This morning, a source familiar with the investigation told NPR that the co-pilot who attacked the captain intended to fly the plane to Ben Gurion Airport, which was its destination, but then crash it into the airport.

This all happened in the morning here when Ben Gurion would've been full of people.

That source also said that it's likely the co-pilot acted alone.

And just to be clear, this investigation is still very much ongoing.

Do we have any more detail about what actually happened on the plane?

Yeah, we're starting to get a clearer picture.

Investigators said that the co-pilot of the Flydubai plane carried out the attack with what's called a crash ax.

That's a lightweight emergency tool stored in the cockpit.

It's used to break through panels or jam doors in the event of a crash.

The pilot was then able to open the cockpit door during the attack, and then passengers rushed in and subdued the attacker while another pilot who happened to be on board the plane helped land it.

Both the pilot and the co-pilot are alive, and they're in the UAE now being questioned.

Do we know any more about the attacker, the co-pilot?

Yeah, the co-pilot is from Oman, according to Israeli officials, and that's raising questions here in Israel about how he was allowed to fly a plane heading to Israel, which doesn't allow pilots from countries it doesn't have diplomatic relations with to fly into its airspace.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that this pilot must have gotten through a, quote, "loophole."

Kat, what has been the reaction from Israelis as this has all been playing out?