Yasmin Abukasis says her daughter, who was on board, heard screaming as a pilot called for help
Another tells journalists that passengers helped tackle one of the pilots and tie him down, writes our reporter in Jerusalem
The Flydubai plane - which set off early on Wednesday - signalled an emergency code two hours into the flight, tracking website Flightradar24 says
Minutes later it switched to a hijacking code, but was later turned back to a general emergency signal
Israeli officials are being quoted in local media as saying "a very serious disaster was averted"
Plane plummeted by 17,000ft in two minutes, data shows
The flight bound for Tel Aviv dropped extremely rapidly over Saudi Arabia just over two hours after take-off from Dubai, flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 examined by BBC Verify shows.
Just before 05:21 UTC (06:21 BST; 08:21 local time) the plane was cruising at a recorded altitude of 34,000 feet (10,400m).
In less than two minutes it had descended more than 17,000 feet (5,200m).
An emergency signal was issued from the plane about 10 minutes later and the available data shows significant ongoing fluctuations in altitude throughout the rest of the flight to Tabuk airport in Saudi Arabia.
'There are people here with shirts covered in blood' - witness
In an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, external, a female passenger describes the "very stressful" moment people on board realised the plane was rapidly descending.
"We understood the pilots lost control," she says, recounting terrified screams from passengers.
She tells the newspaper that one pilot suffered serious stab wounds before the attacker could be dragged off him.
"There are people here with shirts covered in blood," she says, adding: "Now we are fine and want to return home."
