From the Fight to Taking Control of the Plane: Passengers of Flydubai Flight Share Details

A number of passengers on flight 1073 of "Fly Dubai", which was headed from Dubai to Tel Aviv and made an emergency landing at Taba Airport in Saudi Arabia, revealed details of what happened inside the plane after a confrontation between the pilot and his co-pilot in the cockpit, according to the American newspaper "The New York Times".

The newspaper reported that it relied on interviews with more than 10 passengers who were on board the flight, as well as accounts provided by other passengers to Israeli television stations, in addition to a narrative presented by Captain Smit Matchehar to his country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

The newspaper noted that the first person to hear the sounds of the struggle in the cockpit was "Tali", who was waiting for her daughter "Nina Manis", aged 5, to come out of the bathroom, when she suddenly heard frightening screams and loud banging sounds coming from behind the closed cockpit door.

Tali Manis (46 years old) said she heard "a sound that is not usually heard" coming from inside the cockpit, which was "something knocking on the door" from the inside. She turned to a backup pilot sitting a few steps away and told him that something was wrong. She said: "He was busy with his iPad and didn't understand what I wanted. I told him: go check. I pulled him by his hand."

"The man reached for the cockpit door, which was not locked. That was our great luck," according to Manis, who added: "What we saw there was terrifying."

She explained that she saw one pilot stabbing the other with a knife, and the victim fell while the attacker continued to "stab and stab" him, according to her. She said she started screaming: "He is stabbing the pilot."

Inside the cockpit, Captain Machhar, who had 17 years of flying experience, was lying on the ground severely injured and still under attack, feeling the plane plummeting towards the ground.

Machhar told the Prime Minister of India in a video clip released by Modi's office: "I was injured so badly that I fell to the ground. But I knew I had to move," adding: "I felt the plane was falling."

He reached for the door. He said: "I was doing that to save myself, but I also knew that I couldn't let them all die."

He continued: "I told myself: This is the last push, Samit, do it. The door is there. Then somehow I opened it."

Among the rows of passengers, Yaniv Hayoun, a 50-year-old plumber, heard the scream of "Tali Manis." He said that the first thing that came to his mind was that a passenger was attacking another passenger.

He added to the Israeli public broadcasting authority: "At the very moment I stood up and left my seat, the plane tilted sharply to the left, then straightened out again."

He said that the shaking of the plane made him connect its behavior with the scream of "Tali Manis." He asked his wife and two daughters to fasten their seatbelts tightly and ran towards the cockpit.

Before he reached it, he mentioned that the plane entered a sharp descent that threw him against the seats and the cabin wall. He said: "There was a crazy acceleration force. I couldn't lift myself up."

At the front of the cabin, Hayoun felt the plane level off a bit. He regained his balance and made his way to the cockpit door.

He said that the backup pilot was standing there holding the door handle without doing anything. Other passengers confirmed this, saying that the backup pilot looked more stunned than able to move.

Hayon added that he pushed the backup pilot aside and saw the captain on the ground directly inside the door, with the co-pilot leaning on the dashboard with his knees. He continued: "I grabbed the co-pilot by the neck, wrapped him up, and pulled him back."

The newspaper reported that the passengers overpowered the co-pilot and pulled him out of the cockpit, with Tsvika Manis saying: "We jumped on him. Three men."

Miriam Oshayoun, 24, said that when the plane began to descend, it was not the angle of descent that was unbearable but rather the acceleration of the plane. She said: "It felt like ten times a roller coaster (fast amusement ride)." At one point, she heard a loud cracking sound coming from the back of the plane.

Flydubai, the Emirati airline, stated in a statement that a fight occurred inside the cockpit of flight FZ 1073, which was heading from Dubai International Airport to Ben Gurion Airport in Israel.

Asaf Rajwan (44 years old), a financial planner, also ran forward. He said, "We acted out of pure instinct. You don't think."

Meanwhile, dentist Shota Musayev (47 years old) began filming with his phone, thinking that the plane was experiencing severe turbulence, but quickly realized that it was some kind of attack, so he ran to the front of the plane.

Manis said that someone brought wired headphones to restrain the attacker's wrists and ankles, and a crew member brought sturdy plastic ties.

Musayev, the dentist, mentioned that he placed an oxygen mask on Captain Matchar's face and tried to stop his bleeding by pressing on his wounds with a shirt. He said, "He had a deep wound in his head, his hands were all cut up, and he had minor injuries on his body. He had lost a lot of blood."

The captain was conscious but his pulse was weakening. Musayev said he told a crew member, "We need to land as soon as possible, because he won't survive."

Hayoun remained in the cockpit with the co-pilot. He told Israeli interviewers that he pulled the aircraft controls back for a few seconds before the co-pilot took over the flying, and he was also bleeding from a wound on his hand that he sustained during the struggle in the cramped cockpit.

According to the newspaper, other passengers stood guard at the cockpit door, refusing to allow anyone to pass, until a second co-pilot convinced them to let him in.

Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, announced that a "Fly Dubai" aircraft made an emergency landing at the airport safely on Wednesday morning after sending a distress call.

The new pilot successfully guided the aircraft to a safe landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, around 9:45 AM, despite a large part of the aircraft's rudder apparently having detached during the flight.