Israeli journalist shares CHILLING accounts of thwarted attempted plane crash

U. VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. >> THANK YOU. [CLAPPING]. >> Sandra: ISRAELI PASSENGERS. ERUPTING IN CELEBRATION AS THEY. ARRIVE AT BEN-GURION AIRPORT A. SHORT TIME AGO AFTER A FLIGHT. SPARKED FEARS OF A HIJACKING. [SPEAKING ANOTHER LANGUAGE].

[SPEAKING ANOTHER LANGUAGE]. [CRYING].

[SCREAMING].

>> WHAT'S HAPPENED? >> Sandra: AN ISRAELI.

JOURNALIST JOINS US. SHE SPOKE TO SOME OF THE. PASSENGERS ON THAT PLANE. SOME OF THEM WHO ACTUALLY RUSHED. THE COCKPIT OF THAT PLANE AND. PUT THE COPILOT IN A CHOKE HOLD. WELCOME. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. IT WAS TERRIFYING FOR THOSE. PASSENGERS. I SPOKE TO MULTIPLE PASSENGERS. THEY JUST LANDED IN ISRAEL ABOUT. AN HOUR AGO AND THEY ARE STILL. TERRIFIED. IT WAS ALMOST SORT OF A 9/11. THAT WAS PREVENTED TODAY IN THE. MIDDLE EAST.

A PLANE AND THE COPILOT WAS. TRYING TO HIJACK. THE PASSENGERS TOLD ME WHAT. HAPPENED. I ALSO SPOKE WITH THE GUY, HE'S. A HERO. HE WAS THERE WITH HIS WIFE AND. CHILDREN AND HE HEARD SOMEONE. SCREAMING. THEY FELT A DEEP DIVE IN THE. PLANE AS YOU CAN SEE ON AIR. RIGHT NOW. AND THEN HE RUSHED TO THE. COCKPIT AND THE PILOT WHO WAS. SUCH A HERO, THE PILOT FROM AN. INDIAN DESCENT.

HE IS, MY SOURCES TOLD ME HE'S. STILL IN A VERY BAD CONDITION. HE'S ALIVE, STABILIZED BUT HE'S. IN A BAD CONDITION. HE WAS FIGHTING THE COPILOT WHO. WAS STABBING HIM AND HE MANAGED. TO OPEN THE DOOR SO THAT THIS. ISRAELI PASSENGER THAT I SPOKE. WITH. YOU CAN READ THE QUOTES IN THE. FREE PRESS. HE WAS ENTERING THE COCKPIT AND. HE WAS STARTING TO FIGHT WITH. THE COPILOT WHO WAS TRYING TO. STAB THE PILOT HIMSELF. HE WAS FIGHTING HIM. HE WAS CHOKING HIM.

EVENTUALLY A FEW MORE PASSENGERS. ARRIVED AND ANOTHER PILOT ON THE. PLANE ARRIVED AND THEY TOOK. CONTROL OF THE COCKPIT AND. EVENTUALLY THEY MANAGED TO TAKE. WIRES OF EARPHONES OF THE PLANE. AND THEN THEY TIED UP THE. COPILOT, THE ATTACKER. THEY TIED HIM UP AND THEY. MANAGED TO GUARD HIM THROUGHOUT. THIS ENTIRE FLIGHT. IT WAS TERRIFYING AND YET HE.

TOLD ME WHAT I SAW WAS MY. CHILDREN AND MY WIFE AND I KNEW. I HAD TO SAVE THEM AND THOSE. 180. >> Sandra: A COUPLE OF THINGS. DID HE SAY WHERE HE WAS SITTING? >> HE WAS RIGHT BEHIND BUSINESS. CLASS. HE WAS IN ECONOMY. >> Sandra: DID THE SUSPECTED. HIJACKER SAY ANYTHING IN THIS. PROCESS? >> HE WAS HEARING SOMEONE. SHOUTING. THERE WAS A WOMAN IN THE. BATHROOM RIGHT NEXT TO THE. COCKPIT.

SHE HEARD THE DISCUSSION, THE. SCREAMING FROM WITHIN THE. COCKPIT AND THEN SHE HEARD IT. AND SHE STARTED SCREAMING AND HE. WAS JUST RUSHING OVER THERE. THEY WERE TRYING TO BASICALLY. FIGHT HIM, CHOKE HIM. TAKE CONTROL OVER THE SITUATION. THEY WERE NOT REALLY TALKING TO. HIM AS I UNDERSTAND. AT THE VERY SAME TIME THEY ALSO. UNDERSTOOD THAT AFTER THEY TOOK. HIM OUT OF THE COCKPIT THERE'S. NO PILOT IN ATTENDANCE. SO THEY WERE BRAVE ENOUGH TO LET.

THOSE PILOTS THERE TO TELL THEM. YOU NEED TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE. PLANE RIGHT NOW. HE'S ALSO SAYING THAT HE WAS. PUSHING, THEY WERE PUSHING SOME. BUTTONS. THEY ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT. WHAT THEY ARE DOING. THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. THEY HAVE NO BACKGROUND IN. SECURITY WHATSOEVER. THEY ARE JUST NORMAL PASSENGERS, ISRAELIS THAT WERE REALLY ACTING. AS HEROES AND SAVED THIS PLANE. AND SO MANY LIVES. AFTER THEY TOOK OUT THE COPILOT,

THEY ALSO HAD TO TAKE CARE OF. THE PILOT THAT WAS STABBED AND. IS RIGHT NOW IN A BAD CONDITION. THERE WAS FOUR PASSENGERS, ISRAELIS, GUARDING THE COPILOT, THE ATTACKER, AND THE PILOT. HIMSELF. THEY WERE GUARDING THEM AT THE. SAME TIME. THEY WERE FILLED WITH BLOOD. THE ATTACKER WAS STABBING THE. PILOT. THIS ENTIRE SITUATION IS SORT OF. A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE. >> Sandra: ANY OTHER. UNDERSTANDING FROM THESE.

PASSENGERS ABOUT WHAT THE. INTENTION WAS OF THE SUSPECTED. HIJACKER? WAS THE INTENTION TO USE THE. PLANE AS A WEAPON? WAS THE INTENTION JUST TO BRING. THE PLANE DOWN? DO THEY HAVE ANY DETAILS ON. THAT? >> I CAN TELL YOU FROM THEIR. POINT OF VIEW BECAUSE THEY ARE. ONLY THE PASSENGERS THERE BUT I. SPOKE TO MY SOURCES IN THE. MIDDLE EAST AND ISRAEL, SECURITY. SOURCES, GOVERNMENT SOURCES, THEY SUSPECT IT WAS A TERROR. ATTACK. THAT HE WAS TRYING TO HIJACK THE. PLANE, POSSIBLY CRASH IT INTO A. BUILDING. BUT MAINLY TO HIJACK THE PLANE.

THEY ARE PRETTY SURE OF THAT. THEY ARE CHECKING THE. BACKGROUND. THESE SAUDIS ARE VERY MUCH. INVOLVED AT THIS POINT BECAUSE. THE ISRAELIS LANDED IN SAUDI. IN SAUDI, NO ISRAELI PLANES CAN. LAND AND THIS IS WHY ISRAEL. WANTED TO SEND ISRAELI PLANES TO. TAKE THEM BACK TO ISRAEL. SAUDI DID NOT ALLOW THAT SO THEY. HAD TO CHECK THE BACKGROUND OF. THE NEW PILOTS, THE ALTERNATIVE. FLIGHT. ONLY THEN THE ISRAELIS SAID THEY.

ARE WILLING TO GO. I ASK THE PASSENGER WHO HELPED. TO SAVE THE DAY THAT I ASKED HIM. HOW DID YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO AND. HE SAID I'VE SEEN INVESTIGATIONS. ON TV SO I KNEW WHAT TO DO. HE WAS LAUGHING WHILE SAYING. THAT AND SO RELIEVED THAT HE WAS. ABLE TO LAUGH ABOUT THE. SITUATION. BUT IT WAS REAL. , HE SAID I SAW THAT ON TV. BEFORE. SO I KNEW WHAT I HAD TO DO IN. ORDER TO SAVE MY CHILDREN AND MY. WIFE. I SPOKE TO MULTIPLE PASSENGERS. THEY SAID THOSE FOUR ISRAELIS.

AND THE PILOT FROM INDIAN. DESCENT, THEY ARE STILL FIGHTING. FOR HIS LIFE. THEY SAVED ALL OF THEM WITH. BRAVERY AND THEY DID AN AMAZING. JOB THERE. >> Sandra: THANK GOD. WERE THERE OTHER PASSENGERS THAT. STEPPED FORWARD? >> FOUR OF THEM AT LEAST. THIS IS WHAT WE KNOW. I SPOKE TO SOME OF THEM. THERE IS THE FIRST GUY THAT. RUSHED IN. ALSO OTHER PASSENGERS THAT CAME. TO HELP.

A LOT OF WOMEN, CHILDREN ON THE. PLANE SCREAMING, SHOUTING. TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS. GOING ON. SOME OF THEM DIDN'T HAVE ANY. ABILITY TO CONNECT WITH THEIR. FAMILIES. ALL OF THIS TIME WHILE THEY ARE. IN THE AIR, THE ISRAELI SECURITY. ECHELON TRYING TO FIGURE OUT. WHAT'S GOING ON. PRIME MINISTER. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU. THIS IS THE GUY I SPOKE TO.

HE IS A HERO. HE SHIRT STILL HAS BLOODSTAINS. YOU CAN SEE HE WAS THERE WITH. HIS WIFE. YOU SEE THE BLOODSTAINS ON HIS. SHIRT. THIS IS HIS WIFE. THIS IS THEIR KID. THEY WERE THERE DURING THE. SCENE. HE'S A HERO. LOOK AT HIM. THIS GUY SAVE 180 PASSENGERS. TODAY WHILE RUSHING INTO THE. COCKPIT, FIGHTING THE COPILOT.

WHO HAD A KNIFE STABBING THE. OTHER PILOT. HE WAS SO BRAVE THIS GUY. JUST A REGULAR ISRAELI THAT. THOUGHT HE HAD TO RUSH IN. >> Sandra: ONE OTHER QUICK. THING THIS IS A LOT OF NEW. DETAIL SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR. EXCELLENT REPORTING. THIS WAS A COMMENT BY ONE OF OUR. GUESTS THAT SUGGESTED THAT. BECAUSE OF THE MANDATED MILITARY. SERVICE PROBABLY HAD A. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TRAINING. >> THAT'S A FUNNY PART BECAUSE. YOU WOULD ASSUME THEY PROBABLY.

HAD. SOME OF THEM OF COURSE HAD. BUT THIS SPECIFIC GUY COME HE. WAS A COOK IN THE IDF. EVERY ISRAELI HAS S TO GO TO THE. IDF. THIS IS WHAT YOU DO AT THE AGE. OF 18. HE WAS A COOK, NOT A FIGHTER. BUT YET HE SAW HIS WIFE AND. CHILDREN AND HE SAID I'M GOING. TO FIGHT FOR THEIR LIVES AND HE. DID AND HE MANAGED TO SAVE THE. DAY. BY THE WAY AS I UNDERSTAND. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND. PRIME MINISTER. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU ARE ABOUT TO.

TALK OVER THE PHONE IN THE. UPCOMING HOUR OR MAYBE IT. ALREADY STARTED. THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO TALK. BECAUSE OF COURSE. PRESIDENT TRUMP ALSO SEES THE. SITUATION IS A VERY BAD. SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST. AN ATTEMPTED TERROR ATTACK. THIS IS HOW THEY SEE IT IN THE. ISRAELI GOVERNMENT RIGHT NOW. >> Sandra: THANK GOD FOR THAT. HERO WHO STEPPED UP.