Passenger Yaniv Hayun, who was later greeted and described as a hero by Netanyahu, said in a video released by the prime minister's office that he and others were trying to open the cockpit door, but the stabbed pilot was very close to it.

Before the pilot collapsed, the injured man managed to open the door, Hayun said.

He said that inside, the attacker was "trying to destroy the instruments in order to disable the plane".

Hayun then described putting the attacker in a chokehold and pulling him outside of the cockpit before other passengers helped to pin him down.

He added that he "pulled the controls" of the plane, explaining to Netanyahu that he watches Canadian documentary series Air Crash Investigation. "The plane started to level out, a bit more, and then [another] pilot told me he was taking control from there."

Zvika Meness, another passenger, told Israeli public broadcaster Kan News that he and other passengers tied the attacker up "with his own zip ties and with the multimedia headphones".

"There are children and families here who have been through a very severe, highly traumatic event," he added.

Yasmin Abukasis told Reuters that her daughter who was on the flight said a man holding a knife had forced one of the pilots onto the floor, with blood everywhere.

"The plane start to lose control. So all the people, they scream, they think they are going," Abukasis told AP news agency.

Speaking from Ben Gurion Airport, she said her daughter phoned her to say she heard screaming as a pilot called for help, adding that two other pilots took control of the plane as other passengers ran towards a man who had a knife.

Almog Itali, who was also on board the flight, told media one of the pilots who landed the aircraft was British. The other pilot was European, Itali said, although he did not provide a specific nationality.

One female passenger described the "very stressful" moment people realised the plane was descending. "We understood the pilots lost control," she told Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom.

"There are people here with shirts covered in blood," she said, adding: "Now we are fine and want to return home."