UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum visited Indian pilot Smit Machchhar in hospital on Saturday to praise his courage.
Machchhar was stabbed by his co-pilot on a Dubai-Tel Aviv flight but opened the cockpit door to let passengers intervene before landing safely in Saudi Arabia.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash described the attack as a terrorist act and commended the Indian captain's professionalism during the mid-air crisis.