Flightradar24 data showed a flydubai aircraft carrying more than 170 people descending from 37,000 to 17,000 feet between 5:21 and 5:22 a.m. GMT. The 20,000-foot drop, about five kilometres, took one minute. The report said it happened while the co-pilot was attacking the captain in the cockpit.
Passenger Zvika Menas told Israel's public broadcaster Kan that a pilot travelling in the passenger cabin entered the cockpit after hearing shouts. Menas and two other passengers tackled the attacker and restrained him with cables and headphones from the in-flight entertainment system. Menas said the cabin pilot replaced the injured captain and the aircraft was landed.
Another passenger, Almog Itali, described what felt like severe turbulence. He said the aircraft descended for about 20 to 30 seconds, levelled off and then began dropping again. Passengers ran to the front. Itali said the bleeding captain, lying on the floor, used his remaining strength to open the cockpit door while the attacker stood over the controls.
Reuters verified video filmed aboard the plane showing the aftermath, with two injured men on the floor. An off-camera voice identified one as the pilot who had been attacked and the other as the attacker. The verification confirms the footage, not every disputed detail of the incident.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said several Israeli passengers stopped the attack, restrained the suspect and helped restore control to another pilot aboard. Katz called him a terrorist and said preliminary information indicated the suspect intended to crash the plane. Those are the minister's claims; other details in the account came from passenger testimony.