A flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after an alleged confrontation in the cockpit left one pilot injured and the aircraft in a rapid descent.

Israeli officials said the co-pilot attempted to take control of the aircraft and crash it, before passengers and a crew member intervened.

The incident happened aboard flydubai flight FZ1073 as it approached the Jordanian border while carrying mostly Israeli passengers, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu said the co-pilot stabbed the pilot and then attempted to crash the aircraft.

He said passengers broke into the cockpit after the plane "entered a tailspin and began to dive" and found the co-pilot attempting to sabotage the aircraft's systems.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the incident was an attempted attack and that the alleged attacker had a single objective: to crash the plane.

An Israeli official told Reuters that the aircraft transmitted emergency signals during the incident.

Flight-tracking data appeared to show a dramatic loss of altitude. According to Flightradar24 data cited by Reuters and AFP, the aircraft dropped from around 34,000 feet to below 17,000 feet in roughly a minute.

The exact sequence of events inside the cockpit has not been independently established.

Horror in the skies

Passengers described a sudden and frightening loss of altitude. Almog Italie, who was on board, told AFP the sensation was like experiencing extremely severe turbulence, even though there was no turbulence.

"It was like a rollercoaster," he said, describing the aircraft losing thousands of feet in seconds.

Italie said passengers near the front of the plane intervened after a fight broke out around the cockpit.

"The other passengers from the front took over control," he said in a video call from Saudi Arabia.

He said people remained calm despite what was happening.

Netanyahu said passengers, together with a crew member, managed to enter the cockpit and restrain the co-pilot, helping prevent the aircraft from crashing.

"All passengers are out of harm's way," Netanyahu said.

The aircraft subsequently landed safely in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

The alleged attacker was arrested after the plane landed, according to Netanyahu.

An Israeli official identified the co-pilot as an Omani national.

Saudi authorities are expected to question him as part of their investigation.

What was the motive?

Israeli officials described the incident as a suspected attempted "terror attack." They said their current assessment was that it was not connected to a mental health issue involving either pilot.

The Israeli officials spoke anonymously while briefing reporters.

Israeli officials initially stressed that the incident was not believed to be a conventional hijacking.

Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister's office, told Reuters around the time of the landing that the incident was "a different incident" rather than a hijacking.

The distinction appears to relate to the alleged attempt to crash the aircraft from inside the cockpit rather than an effort to take the plane to another destination.

Authorities have not yet publicly established a full motive or provided a complete account of how the confrontation began.

The five-hour flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was diverted to Saudi Arabia, where the passengers and crew were able to leave the aircraft safely.

Saudi authorities will investigate the alleged attack, while Israeli officials continue to assess what happened.

For now, the accounts from Israeli officials and passengers point to a serious confrontation in the cockpit that was brought under control after passengers intervened, but several details of the incident remain under investigation.