cockpit:
area at the front of a plane (usually behind doors) where the pilot and other crew members sit.

oxygen:
the gas that makes up 21% of the air we breathe. (People and animals need it to live.)

handcuffs
joined metal rings used to tie a prisoner's wrists together

Unnamed Passenger (easy version)

Six hours after a plane left London, England on its way to Nairobi in Kenya, a 27-year old man got out of his seat and started walking up and down. Then, suddenly he went into the cockpit.

A few seconds later, passengers sitting near the front of the plane heard someone shouting, "Help!" They got up and went into the cockpit and found the man fighting with the pilot and other members of the crew. The passengers joined in the fight. They all tried to stop the man from touching the controls of the plane; but somehow he did touch them and the plane began diving toward the ground.

As it dived, the plane began shaking. Things flew through the air and people hit their heads on the ceiling. All the oxygen masks dropped down and the lights went out. People started screaming.

The plane flew properly for a minute, but soon it started diving again. Then the engines stopped. Finally, the crew and the passengers got the man under control and started the plane’s engines.

The man was put in handcuffs, dragged out of the cockpit, and tied down with a seat belt.

Later, the pilot spoke to the passengers. He told them that the man had tried to kill them all. He said that the plane had almost turned over on its back. If that had happened, it would have crashed.

- information from "The Toronto Star," 00.12.30