A passenger on the flydubai flight on which the copilot stabbed the pilot was filmed providing a real-time update shortly before the flight landed in Saudi Arabia.
"We are here, in the middle of a plane crash," the passenger related in Hebrew. "At the moment, we are being controlled by the terrorists. We are close to the airport."
"Anyone who can hear me, we need help. We are landing in Tabuk, probably in the Saudi region. An unknown area.
"Everyone on the plane is alive and well, except for the pilot. We need help."
Additional footage from inside the cockpit shows Israeli passengers providing medical treatment to the pilots who were wounded during the incident. One of the pilots, who appears to be conscious, is believed to be the pilot who prevented the other pilot from taking control of the aircraft and crashing it.
At the same time, the Israelis are seen securing the entrance to the cockpit and ensuring that no one enters, while others provide life-saving medical treatment to the pilots.
Yitzhak Lieber, another passenger who was on the Flydubai flight, described how several Israeli passengers intervened after the stabbing in the cockpit and managed to remove the attacker.
"We are on the flight from Dubai. We took control here of the attacker with a knife who stabbed one of the pilots. We simply jumped in and a few of us pulled them out of the cockpit. Everything is fine now. We are probably landing in Saudi Arabia. You can see that I am okay."
According to Lieber, after the attacker was subdued, the passengers prepared for landing: "We will see what happens now. In just a few minutes we are landing. The terrorist has been neutralized."
"There is a pilot here who is seriously wounded. Apparently there is another pilot inside who is wounded, but he is managing to land the plane. There are two crew members from the aircraft."
He added that after taking control of the situation, the passengers made sure to separate the cockpit from the rest of the aircraft, stressing, "We made sure they closed the door."
Tzvika Manes, CEO of Bank Leumi’s Barak Leumi underwriting company, was among the passengers who entered the cockpit and overpowered the attacker, Calcalist reported. Manes confirmed the details and said that after screams were heard from the cockpit, he and two other passengers entered and neutralized the attacker.
According to Manes, the passengers were alerted by a relief pilot from Fiji after his wife heard the screams and drew his attention to what was happening. Manes said the pilot who was stabbed is from India, while the attacker is a pilot from Oman. "I am covered in blood. It was insane," he said.
The incident began this morning during Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, carrying more than 150 Israelis. Israel received a distress code from the aircraft indicating unlawful interference with the flight, which can signal a hijacking. In response, Israeli Air Force fighter jets were scrambled and senior security officials held emergency consultations.
It later emerged that the copilot, an Omani citizen, stabbed the captain, and indications are growing that he attempted to take control of the aircraft and crash it.
During the incident, the aircraft plunged approximately 20,000 feet before eventually landing in Saudi Arabia. Diplomatic officials said Israeli forces are at the scene and that all the Israeli passengers are expected to return to Israel.