"He Attacked Us, We Overpowered Him": Video Emerges From flydubai Plane

Passengers are seen praising the heroics of an injured pilot in a video that has emerged from the flydubai plane that encountered a violent cockpit struggle and a brief hijack scare earlier today.

Heading to Tel Aviv from Dubai, flight FZ 1073 sent a distress signal and changed course after one of its pilots was stabbed by another. Blood stains are seen in the cabin and on his face, with passengers guarding the injured pilot.

"You saved the plane," one of the travellers is heard saying in the minute-long footage. Another man seen with a head injury says in Hebrew, "He attacked us on this plane. He tried to murder the pilot. We overpowered him."

Read : Pilot Tried To Take Control Of flydubai Plane, Terror Attack Not Ruled Out

"We are standing here. No one passes the pilot's door," comes an assurance from another. One of the passengers is even seen pointing to the accused pilot as the "one who stabbed" the other pilot.

Some off-duty pilots who were among the 180 passengers on board eventually stepped in and landed the plane in Tabuk in Saudi Arabia.

Flydubai later said in a statement that the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight "experienced an incident while en route" and that all passengers were safe and accounted for.

Neither the airline nor the authorities have provided any clarity on what exactly occurred on the flight, but videos pointed to a violent confrontation between two pilots in the cockpit.

During the confrontation, the plane dropped about 17,400 feet in two minutes, reports said. The plane transmitted the international emergency code 7700, Israeli media cited flight-tracking data as showing, referring to the globally recognised code for hijacking.

The Israeli military is believed to have scrambled fighter jets over possible hijacking fears, which was later ruled out.

Read : 'Screams, Blood, Then Plane Dived': Eyewitnesses On flydubai Flight Horror

The distress code was later changed to 7500, which is recognised for unlawful interference, according to flight tracker Flightradar24, which published its timeline of the flight since it took off.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that the situation is now under control and that measures are being taken to ensure the return of Israeli passengers to Israel.

Israeli authorities are examining the incident and have not ruled out a terror angle. The country's national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, said a "terrorist" wanted to crash the aircraft and kill the Israelis on board.