The alleged attacker “began executing his plan during the flight, attacking the captain inside the flight deck using a crash axe,” UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif al Shamsi said.

A Flydubai pilot attacked his fellow pilot using a crash axe and tried to take control of the aircraft’s flight controls in an attempted terrorist attack, an official in the United Arab Emirates said Saturday.

The name of the alleged attacker is Omani citizen Hamam al-Hammami, multiple sources from three agencies briefed on the investigation, and a diplomat in the Middle East, told NBC News. Authorities have not officially released the identity.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that al-Hammami had “previously been banned from flying by Oman over concerns he had adopted radical ideological views.”