[Anchor]

The passenger plane bound for Israel that nearly crashed over Saudi Arabia yesterday (September 30) was saved thanks to the quick thinking and resourcefulness of the pilot and passengers.

From a life-or-death moment, subduing a knife-wielding co-pilot to landing safely, correspondent Kwon Yeongin reports on the situation at the time.

[Reporter]

Carrying 174 people and heading from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel, the passenger plane suddenly plummeted more than 4,000 meters over Saudi airspace.

[Mika Bauman / Passenger: It felt like the plane was completely dropping, and it started to turn a bit. And everyone was screaming, and the children were crying.]

The co-pilot had stabbed the captain with a knife and begun a rampage.

The captain, an Indian national named Machar, resisted despite sustaining heavy injuries and managed with all his might to open the cockpit door.

That is because it cannot be opened from the outside.

Only then were passengers able to enter the cockpit, where they subdued the rampaging co-pilot, dragged him out, and tied him up.

[Passenger: We are currently inside the plane. We have subdued the terrorist at the moment, and we are about to land. We need help.]

A passenger who said they liked aviation accident documentary series pulled the control column to prevent the plane from crashing.

[Yaniv Hayoun / Passenger: I saw the two control columns empty without a pilot, and remembering watching the TV program "Air Crash Investigation" in the past, I knew I had to pull them.]

Shortly afterward, an off-duty pilot who was on board as a passenger took over the controls and made an emergency landing at a Saudi military airport.

The passengers, who made a miraculous return alive, breathed a sigh of relief.

[Peleg Italy / Passenger: At that moment, I almost went and met God.]

[Mika Bauman / Passenger: It felt like death was approaching right before my eyes.]

Testimonies also emerged that the co-pilot from Oman who carried out the knife rampage appeared to have strong religious beliefs, though the connection to the crime has not yet been confirmed.

Amid ongoing investigations by Saudi authorities, the Dubai-Tel Aviv flight route where the incident occurred has been suspended.

Characterizing this incident as an act of terror by an Islamic extremist, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that a second 9/11 attack was prevented, raising security concerns ahead of the general election at the end of this month.

(Camera Reporter: Kim Si-nae, Video Editor: Cho Mu-hwan)