Trump Tells the Story of FlyDubai Attack | WATCH

President Donald Trump on Wednesday gave his own account of the attempted attack aboard FlyDubai flight FZ1073. He said he had heard the details directly from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he praised both the wounded captain and the Israeli passenger credited with helping save the plane.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office during an unrelated news conference, Trump said, "I did speak to Bibi Netanyahu at length about this event." He described the Omani co-pilot as "perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job," and said he had stabbed the captain.

Trump said the captain was badly hurt but called him a hero for unlocking the cockpit door, noting that cockpit doors cannot normally be opened from the outside. Israeli officials have identified the captain as Smit Machchhar, an Indian national. Despite his wounds, he released the door lock and allowed passengers and crew to reach the attacker.

Trump then told the story of an Israeli passenger he described as a plumber with almost no flying experience. According to Trump's account, the passenger heard screams, ran to the front of the plane and helped level the aircraft as it dove toward the ground. Trump suggested the passenger had picked up a basic sense of flying from the TV show Air Disasters, saying, "He learned from watching that show sort of how to fly."

Trump was careful to say he could not confirm every detail. "I don't know if it's true," he told reporters, adding that he had heard the account from Netanyahu and several other people. He also said he had been told the attacker intended to crash the plane, but that this had not yet been established. Trump called the episode an incredible story and described the passengers' actions as "the most amazing stuff."

Netanyahu has since confirmed the central part of the story. In an interview with Fox News, he identified the passenger as Yaniv Hayun. Speaking to CBS, Netanyahu said Hayun entered the cockpit and saw the co-pilot trying to bring the plane down.

Netanyahu said that Machchhar's courage, together with the Israeli passengers who subdued the attacker, prevented a disaster on the scale of September 11. He told U.S. networks that Israel had no advance intelligence warning of the attack. He also said investigators expect to determine soon whether Iran was involved.

Four dual U.S.-Israeli citizens were on board the flight. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said authorities are taking the incident seriously but have not identified any credible threat to the United States.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8, carrying 174 passengers, was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv when the co-pilot attacked the captain in the cockpit. The plane dropped thousands of feet before passengers and crew regained control, and it landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. The co-pilot was arrested and is being questioned by Saudi authorities. Israel has classified the incident as a terror attack, and the UAE has opened its own criminal investigation.