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They are lucky to be alive. Initial reports indicate either an attacker got into the cockpit & stabbed the pilots, or the copilot stabbed the captain then tried to crash the jet, bound for Tel Aviv. Palestinian militants have a long history of hijacking jets, mostly from the 1960’s to 1980’s. They often targeted random airlines, but a common thread early on was the planes were bound for Tel Aviv…which is what makes me think there is a possible link here. At one point, these hijackings became such a threat that airline pilots worldwide threatened to go on strike. In September, 1970, the “Dawson’s Field” hijackings occurred. 3 jets bound for NYC & one for London were hijacked & flown to Dawson Field, Jordan, a desert airstrip. One passenger was injured, and all 4 jets were eventually blown up by the militants. The hijackers released most of the passengers except for those of Jewish descent. Jordanian security forces eventually fought a battle & forced a negotiated release. To this day, Israeli airline El Al still stations armed guards at the airplane when parked at any international airport for an extended period to make sure nobody tampers with the jet or sneaks aboard. As for this jet, they almost certainly exceeded a lot of limits, including speed & G’s. Most of the rudder surface is gone, but the Vertical Stabilizer remained intact. If it had not, the jet would almost certainly have been lost. How fast they got is unknown, but I’ve seen estimates of around .90 Mach…the limit on a 737 is .82 Mach, and I refuse to go faster than .80 Mach unless it’s absolutely smooth & I have a very compelling reason. They did put a code into their transponder that indicates a hijacking. I won’t share the code, but it sets a lot of alarms off when you do it & we have procedures in place (which I won’t share). You can bet that airlines worldwide are reviewing their security procedures today. I’m not too worried about an incident like this in the U.S., but as they say, “If you see something, say something”. Also noteworthy is that the passengers themselves appear to have intervened & saved the day…if the Flight Attendants ask for your help, give it!