‘He’s stabbing the pilot’: How terror unfolded on Flydubai Flight 1073

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Others onboard, including an off-duty pilot, worked to stabilize the plane that was nosediving toward the desert sand.

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Passenger Almog Italie said it felt like “we were having very big turbulence” before he heard the fighting at the front of the plane. “And the crew member, along with the passengers gained control, took over.”

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Flightradar24, a flight tracking website, showed the Boeing 737 Max plummeted from an altitude of about 34,000 feet to 17,000 feet in less than two minutes. Videos from inside the plane show the plane shaking as it plunged, with some passengers screaming and crying, some shielding children, others crouching in the aisle.

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The plane was “pretty much out of control,” said passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon. “It was really on the way to crashing, and it was simply the resourcefulness of many people who took control of the co-pilot and neutralized him.”

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After about 10 minutes of erratic flying, the plane was brought under control and its dangerous flight stabilized. From within the cockpit, the 7700 and 7500 emergency distress codes were activated, suggesting an attempted hijacking as opposed to a mechanical problem.

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Passengers sent out status reports and pleas for help from onboard.

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“We’re here during a hijacking of the plane,” Asaf Rejwan, one of the passengers, said in Hebrew with blood trickling down his forehead and nose. “We control the terrorist. All the passengers are OK, but not the pilot. Whoever’s hearing me, we need help.”

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The Israeli military reportedly scrambled fighter jets fearing a 9/11 scenario mimicking the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijacked planes were flown into buildings in the United States.

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The plane made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Flydubai said a third Flydubai pilot in the cabin landed the plane. Onboard videos show passengers clapping and cheering on touchdown.

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The plane’s tail was damaged, presumably by the sudden plunge.

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Most of the passengers were Israeli and were shuttled to a replacement plane to complete their journey to Tel Aviv, where they were greeted by family, officials and media.

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“There were stabbings and a lot of blood. We’re very emotional and under terrible stress; it’s very difficult for me to talk,” one passenger said. Passenger Chaim Nazarovitz said that during the aircraft’s fast descent he felt like he was “not among the living.”

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When Hayoun, the plumber, was greeted at Tel Aviv airport by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, Hayoun’s T-shirt and pants were spattered with blood. When he was asked about the passengers’ actions, Hayoun said: “Unfortunately we didn’t succeed in killing him, but it will take him awhile to recover.”

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Machchhar, looking weary and with his head bandaged and an oxygen tube in his nose, spoke publicly Friday about his battle in the cockpit to his prime minister, India’s Narendra Modi, who hailed him as a hero. Machchhar, the father of two young children, apologized for being emotional.

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The co-pilot accused in the attack has not been named but was identified by Israeli officials as being from Oman, a Persian Gulf country that borders the U.A.E.

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The circumstances of the incident are under investigation.

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On Thursday, Netanyahu said the Omani man was “suicidal” and “underwent Islamic radical indoctrination,” in an interview with Fox News. An Israeli spokesman told The Washington Post: “He talks on his social media about killing Jews. So it’s very clear he had the intent and the motive to kill Jews before.”