Passenger accounts paint a chaotic and terrifying picture of the
on Wednesday.
asserted
accounts → paint → the
The flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one pilot stabbed his counterpart and tried to crash the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.
asserted
pilot → force → aircraft
"As they were approaching Israel, one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot, and apparently attempted to crash the plane with everyone on board," Netanyahu said in a video statement, lauding passengers he said had helped to "neutralize the pilot."
asserted
he → approach → pilot
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz called it "an attempted jihadist terror attack."
"It was the most frightening experience we've ever had in our lives," passenger Ron Levi told CBS News on Wednesday.
asserted
Levi → call → Wednesday
Here's what we know about how the suspected terror attack unfolded, based on accounts from Levi and other passengers.
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attack → know → Levi
"The flight was going well, we were two hours in," Levi told CBS News' Dov Lieber, speaking from Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where the plane made its safe emergency landing, piloted by an off-duty flight crew member that happened to be on board.
"All of a sudden, what we thought was turbulence started," said Levi.
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Levi → go → board
It kept getting stronger, and "we realized it's not something regular."
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it → keep → ?
"I would say much worse than a free-fall," he said, describing how the plane "started turning all sideways and going up and down in all different kinds of directions, for a pretty long time."
"It's very hard to even to estimate if this was 30 seconds or a minute or more than that … it was just the scariest thing possible."
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it → say → that
Levi was sitting in a row of seats with his family, "just holding each other's hands and saying that we love them and just hoping for the best."
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we → sit → best
"And then shouting started from the front of the plane," he recalled.
asserted
he → start → plane
He saw some people near the front get up.
asserted
people → see → front
"The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot"
asserted
pilot → try → pilot
Levi said he wasn't close enough to see what happened next, but several other passengers who spoke with Israeli media said one pilot had stabbed the other, details that were also repeated by Netanyahu
"
asserted
that → say → Netanyahu
According to the initial information in our possession, the terrorist's intention was one thing: to crash the plane with all its passengers," said Katz, Israel's defense chief.
uncertain
Katz → accord → passengers
Netanyahu said he had spoken with an Israeli passenger who told him that, "somehow, he managed to break into the cockpit together with one of the crew members, and that together they neutralized the pilot who carried out the stabbing while he was attempting to sabotage the aircraft's systems."
asserted
he → say → systems
Passenger Miryam Shira Ohayon said the plane was "pretty much out of control" when the stabbing took place, she believed somewhere over Jordan.
asserted
she → say → Jordan
"The co-pilot tried to murder the pilot and basically carry out a suicide attack on the plane," she told reporters by speakerphone, held up by her mother who was waiting at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
asserted
who → try → Aviv
"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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who → crash → him
Another passenger told the Jerusalem Post that intervening passengers shouted at two off-duty pilots at the back of the plane "to run and take control" of it, and one of them did so after the passengers managed to remove the attacker from the cockpit.
asserted
passengers → tell → cockpit
Netanyahu said the person who "managed to stabilize the aircraft" was "another aircrew member who was on the plane."
asserted
who → say → plane
"All we heard in the back was shouting," said Levi.
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Levi → hear → back
"We saw that some people were dealing with stuff, and it kept on going like that for, I think, about 10, 20 minutes until … the shakiness [of the plane] relaxed."
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shakiness → see → plane
"Rumors started coming, and we realized that it wasn't just turbulence," he said.
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he → come → ?
"They're heroes," he said of the people who intervened to stop the attacking pilot.
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who → say → pilot
"We owe them our lives."
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We → owe → lives
Levi said he saw people covered in blood.
asserted
people → say → blood
"They're here with us as well now," he told CBS News from the airport in Saudi Arabia.
asserted
he → tell → Arabia
"These were the people I'm talking about who … jumped into the cockpit even and saved the situation."
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who → talk → situation
According to Ohayon, a doctor and others on board helped treat the pilot for unspecified wounds.
uncertain
doctor → accord → wounds
"Other than the pilot, there were no injuries, but the bigger fear was really a crash, which is exactly what he was trying to do," she said.
asserted
she → be → what
"I just want to go home"
asserted
I → want → ?
An Israeli security official told CBS News Wednesday that Israel is investigating whether it was intended to be a Sept. 11-style terror attack, and whether the attacker was working alone.
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attacker → tell → News
The pilot was arrested and taken for questioning by Saudi authorities, Netanyahu said, adding that Israel was working to bring the passengers back to Israel safely
"There's another Flydubai plane here now," said Levi.
asserted
Levi → arrest → Israel
"People are a bit reluctant to get on it, naturally …
asserted
People → get → it
We want to go home, but we want to do it in a safe way."
asserted
we → want → way
Asked how he was processing the incident, Levi replied: "Honestly, I'm not even starting.
asserted
I → ask → incident
We're all shaking here …
asserted
We → shake → ?
I have no idea.
asserted
I → have → idea
I just want to go home."
asserted
I → want → ?
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