Children who survived the attempted attack aboard the flydubai flight to Israel have described the terrifying moments when the aircraft suddenly began plunging from the sky, with one 16-year-old passenger saying he began speaking to Hashem and asking forgiveness because he believed he was about to die.

New accounts from passengers and their families are also shedding light on the remarkable chain of events that led to the alleged attacker being discovered and subdued. According to the father of 8-year-old Omer Shalom, a woman who happened to get up to use the restroom near the cockpit heard the screams of the captain, who had been stabbed. She alerted her husband, Yaniv Hayoun, who rushed toward the cockpit and ultimately helped overpower the co-pilot.

Omer’s father described the horrifying moments as the aircraft descended at an extreme angle, saying the speed and force of the dive damaged part of the plane.

“The rear wing broke from the speed of the fall. Everything went through my mind, all the things I can’t bring myself to say again in front of the girls.”

Sixteen-year-old Peleg Itali was traveling with his parents and sister and was seated near the front of the aircraft, giving him a close-up view of the chaos as it unfolded.

“The plane started going crazy, and I heard a woman screaming that he had been stabbed,” Itali told Ynet. “Two heroes jumped forward toward the cockpit. No one tells you that there’s a terrorist. I saw the floor and felt that we were falling. I started talking to God, asking forgiveness for everything and asking for Heaven. I almost wrote a eulogy.”

The fear was especially intense for the many families aboard the flight. Itali recalled mothers desperately trying to calm frightened young children as screams could be heard throughout the cabin and passengers struggled to understand what was happening.

Omer, just 8 years old, also recalled the terrifying descent and the belief that the aircraft was about to hit the ground.

“I was terrified because I thought we were going to crash,” she said.

Only after the alleged attacker had been subdued did Omer’s mother explain to her that the immediate danger had passed and that the aircraft was now heading for an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

The flight ultimately landed safely in Tabuk after Hayoun and other passengers subdued the co-pilot and additional pilots aboard the aircraft took control, bringing an end to an ordeal in which passengers had believed for several terrifying moments that they were witnessing their final minutes.

{Matzav.com}