Add the Gazzetta del Sud as a source
«Blood everywhere, fear and terror». The 180 passengers on board the FlyDubai flight experienced moments of great anguish, which seemed interminable. There are many dramatic testimonies that tell of the very long minutes after realizing what was happening in the cockpit between the panic at the sudden loss of altitude when the plane lost over 15 thousand feet of altitude in less than a minute and the excitement to block the alleged attacker and save the wounded commander.
Passengers’ testimonies
“There were moments when we were certain that the end had come,” one of the passengers told Channel 12. “We heard screams and screams, then we saw the cockpit being opened and there was blood.” Another passenger, Musaev Shota, who is a dentist by profession, told Ynet that he rushed towards the cockpit after hearing the screams, and that he helped immobilize the alleged attacker. «I went there to hit him», explained the doctor, specifying that he had given aid to the captain who was bleeding profusely: «If we hadn’t intervened, we wouldn’t be talking to you. I didn’t wait. I realized something was wrong and then I snapped.”
Shota is one of three passengers who rushed to the cockpit as soon as they realized what was happening. They immobilized and blocked the co-pilot. It took them at least twenty minutes, they said, saying they used the wire from the headphones to immobilize him.
The loss of altitude
Almog Itali told Sky News the moments in which the plane lost altitude: a “very abrupt” jump, similar to that of a “rollercoaster”, before recovering “very quickly”, stabilizing “after a few long seconds”.
«It seemed like an eternity, but I think it must have been two or three minutes, during which the plane continued to fall and spin, we were about to crash. I thought: it’s over. It’s all over. September 11th is happening again”, Daniel said, reconstructing the dynamics: “At first I heard a scuffle coming from the cockpit. The door was slightly ajar and I saw an attempt to push someone out. Then three Israelis who were sitting behind me came to see what was happening, and suddenly the plane started a dive. I then understood what had happened and that two other pilots, who were traveling among the passengers, intervened, taking control of the plane and taking us to safety.”
Passenger intervention
Tzvika Manes, CEO of the Barak Capital company, confirmed to the Israeli newspaper Calcalist that he was among the passengers who neutralized the alleged attacker after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the pilot. «It was a traumatic event of incredible proportions. My wife was close to the cockpit because our daughter was in the bathroom. Suddenly he heard screams coming from inside. Together with two other people we entered and took control of the terrorist.” An immediate intervention that left him “covered in blood”.