Passengers on a morning flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv recounted scenes of panic and terror on Wednesday as their aircraft suddenly plunged thousands of feet while screams for help came from behind the cockpit door. What began as a routine flight turned terrifying when a violent altercation broke out inside the cockpit in midair. Passengers described a desperate scramble inside the cabin as travelers realized the plane was out of control. Several rushed into the cockpit and subdued an attacker before two off-duty pilots helped steer the aircraft to a safe emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

"Within a few minutes, our plane completely lost control, and we felt that this was it — we were about to crash," one passenger, Miriam Ohayon, told Israel’s I24 News. "We heard screams on the plane, and when they opened the cockpit, there was a lot of blood." The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the attacker was one of the pilots, and passenger Almog Itali told the BBC that "one stabbed the other." Two off-duty pilots, one of whom was British, helped land the aircraft.

The incident began about two hours after takeoff when a passenger saw a struggle inside the cockpit. The pilot yelled "help, help, help" and was being attacked with a knife. Passengers subdued the attacker, and a nurse and doctor on board provided initial medical care. Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 showed Flight 1073 descended more than 17,000 feet in less than two minutes. The plane landed safely in Tubak, Saudi Arabia, and the pilots were taken to a hospital.