New shocking details have emerged about what unfolded aboard Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv, when the co-pilot allegedly attacked the Indian captain with a knife inside the cockpit as the aircraft was flying at 34,000 feet with 174 passengers on board.

The aircraft suddenly began losing altitude, while passengers rushed towards the cockpit, managed to restrain the attacker and tied him up. At the same time, others tried to keep the seriously injured captain alive until a reserve crew took over the controls and the aircraft landed safely in Saudi Arabia.

‘Kill me,’ the co-pilot shouted

As reported by the Daily Mail, one of the people who found himself on the front line was 47-year-old Georgian Jewish dentist Shota Musayev, who was travelling with his wife and children.

He described the dramatic moments and revealed that, after he had been restrained, the Omani co-pilot said almost nothing other than one phrase: “Kill me, kill me.”

‘We grabbed him and pulled him out of the cockpit’

According to Musayev, everything began when passengers felt the aircraft suddenly lose altitude. At first, they thought it was turbulence, but a few seconds later they heard shouting from the front of the cabin and a woman screaming, “Knife! Knife!”

He said he then got up and rushed towards the cockpit with other passengers. A group of four men managed to pull the attacker out of the cockpit, throw him to the floor and tie his hands and feet.

“He said nothing else. He begged us: Kill me,” the dentist said.

‘Save me, I don’t want to die here’

At the same time, Captain Shmit Matsar had suffered serious injuries and was losing a large amount of blood. Musayev described how the pilot had been seriously injured in the arm, neck and back of the head, while the cockpit was covered in blood.

“He was still conscious and he was telling me: Save me. I don’t want to die here,” he said.

As, according to his account, there were not enough first-aid supplies, passengers used pieces of fabric to stem the bleeding.

It lost 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds

According to Flightradar24 data, the aircraft lost more than 14,000 feet in less than half a minute while flying over Saudi Arabia. Eventually, a reserve crew travelling on the flight took over the controls and safely landed the aircraft at Tabuk Airport.

Musayev argued that the injured captain’s decision to open the cockpit door was crucial, allowing passengers to intervene.

“If the cockpit had remained locked, we probably would not have been able to do anything,” he said.

The authorities of the United Arab Emirates are now investigating the attacker’s motives and examining whether the incident was linked to a terrorist act or had been planned in advance.

Israeli officials have said that the co-pilot is an Omani national, while the investigation into the incident is ongoing.