Israel was prepared to shoot down a Flydubai plane after the captain was attacked in the cockpit, even with over 150 Israelis on board, two Israeli sources with direct knowledge of the situation told CBS News, the latter reports.

Israel has a long-practiced procedure for this kind of possible 9/11-style event, according to the sources. After the plane plunged 14,000 feet, the Israeli Air Force tried to contact the cockpit but got no answer. A pre-established committee was quickly roused and a command center established.

Fighter jets were scrambled and Israel's airspace was closed. But Israel called back the jets once it realized that, about 400 miles from Israel, the plane turned toward Saudi Arabia, and the Saudis scrambled their own jets

If the plane had not changed direction, the Israeli fighter pilots would have gotten as close as possible to inspect the cockpit and try to make visual contact with the pilot to assess the situation, the sources said. They would have then done the same to the cabin to assess the status of the passengers. If there appeared to be panic, they would relay their findings to the Air Force and the pre-established committee.

The protocol calls for a rogue flight approaching Israel to be shot out of the sky, but only the Israeli prime minister could have made that decision. The sources told CBS News that shooting down the passenger jet would be considered better than many hundreds being killed if a rogue plane slammed into Israel's prominent Azrieli buildings, the airport or another "high-value target."