Passengers who survived the suspected terror attack aboard Flydubai Flight FZ1073 described scenes of sheer terror after returning to Israel Wednesday evening, recounting how the aircraft suddenly plunged toward the ground as screaming passengers became convinced they were about to die.

All 174 passengers ultimately returned to Israel aboard a replacement Flydubai flight following hours in Saudi Arabia, where their original aircraft had made an emergency landing after the violent cockpit incident.

After the replacement flight landed at Ben Gurion Airport, Magen David Adom personnel treated the arriving passengers. A man in his 50s who suffered a minor upper-body injury was transported in light condition to Shamir Medical Center, formerly Assaf Harofeh.

The remaining passengers did not require hospitalization.

One woman aboard the flight described the extraordinary emotions among the passengers when they finally touched down safely in Israel.

“Everyone here is on an unbelievable high. People are incredibly excited. People were in tears, and we cried from happiness when we landed. I never imagined this would happen to me. We didn’t think we would manage to land. It was a miracle. Baruch Hashem.”

She said the moments during which the original aircraft suddenly lost altitude unfolded so rapidly that passengers barely had time to process what was happening.

“We felt the plane falling at incredible speed, with everyone screaming in terror. We didn’t have time to think or talk or breathe. It was seconds,” she recalled.

“We were sure we would all die. I sent farewell messages to our parents. It was unbelievably frightening.”

Flight-tracking data showed that FZ1073 lost approximately 14,000 feet of altitude in an extremely short period during the cockpit emergency, as passengers reported being thrown around the cabin.

Among those who intervened was Musayev Shota, a doctor who said he joined three other Israelis in confronting the copilot accused of stabbing the captain.

“The pilot was very badly injured, with very heavy bleeding from his head and hands. He was in very serious condition. I was the only doctor on the plane. I managed to stop the blood and the bleeding stopped completely. His condition was fairly stable, but at the last moment it deteriorated somewhat. Right when we landed.”

The doctor said the passengers were also forced to physically overpower and restrain the suspected attacker as the crisis unfolded.

“We took control of the terrorist and tied him up, and of course it was difficult, but we succeeded. There were four of us here who took control of the entire situation, and if not for that, we wouldn’t be speaking with you.”

The passengers’ accounts add further detail to the extraordinary events aboard the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight, during which Israeli officials say the copilot stabbed the captain and apparently attempted to bring down the aircraft.

Passengers and crew members forced their way into the cockpit and subdued the alleged attacker.

Qualified pilots aboard the flight then took control of the aircraft, while medical professionals among the passengers treated the wounded captain until the plane could make its emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

After hours on Saudi soil, some passengers initially refused to board another Flydubai aircraft because of what they had just endured.

All 174 ultimately agreed to fly home after the Mossad vetted and approved the replacement crew.

Their arrival at Ben Gurion Airport brought an end to an ordeal that several of those aboard said they were convinced they would not survive.

{Matzav.com}