A six-year-old girl’s request to visit the restroom sparked a series of events that led to passengers racing towards the cockpit of Flydubai Flight FZ1073 after the Indian captain, Smit Machchhar, was attacked by his co-pilot during a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

Nina Manes was traveling with her parents, Tali and Zvika, when she asked her mother to accompany her to the lavatory. As Tali guided her daughter towards the front of the aircraft, she heard unusual sounds and banging from the cockpit. Concerned, she notified a nearby flight attendant and insisted that the crew check on the situation, as she recounted to Israel’s Channel 12.

Tali described her initial reaction to the strange noises, which prompted her to alert the flight attendant. Upon opening the cockpit door, she witnessed a chaotic scene filled with blood and intense fighting. “There was blood everywhere in the cockpit, and the struggle was extremely fierce,” she reported to Channel 12, adding that she yelled, “He’s stabbing the pilot, he’s stabbing the pilot, come help!”

During a video call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, Captain Machchhar recounted how he managed to unlock the cockpit door despite his injuries. “I realized the plane was going down … I had collapsed on the floor. I told myself that I just needed to open the door. I succeeded, and people came in,” he explained.

As the Flydubai flight descended rapidly from about 34,000 feet to 16,600 feet, passengers surged towards the cockpit and assisted in restraining the co-pilot who had attacked Machchhar. According to the Associated Press, the aircraft experienced further drastic altitude shifts before executing an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

A passenger, who was bloodied and spoke during the incident on social media, described the situation as akin to a hijacking and confirmed that the assailants had been subdued. “We are in the midst of an airplane hijacking. At this moment, we’ve overpowered the terrorists; we are close to landing. Anyone listening, we need assistance,” he stated.

Yasmin Abu Kasis, whose daughter Miriam was aboard the flight, told the Associated Press that Miriam witnessed a man wielding a weapon and saw the pilot on the floor amidst screams. “The aircraft began to lose control, causing panic among the passengers,” Yasmin recounted.