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A plane plummets over 5km but is saved from disaster by passengers who take control. How they did it raises further questions.
A plane plummets over 5km but is saved from disaster by passengers who take control. How they did it raises further questions. Passengers on the Flydubai plane managed to seize control of the flight after the co-pilot stabbed the pilot and pushed the plane into a steep descent.
This article contains references to suicide. As authorities attempt to make sense of the Flydubai flight that briefly dropped from the sky on Wednesday, a key question will be how passengers were able to enter the cockpit and deal with the threat within it. Since the September 11 attacks, global airline policies have been completely transformed and keeping passengers out of the cockpit was a key focus.
Now, attention will no doubt be turned to the procedures in place to mitigate risks arising from within the flight deck itself — screening and procedures around pilot health and safety will come under scrutiny. Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Some of the 174 passengers and crew on board the Flydubai flight were able to regain control after the pilot, Indian national Smit Machchhar, was allegedly stabbed by his co-pilot, who sent the plane into a sharp descent. As it dropped more than 5km in a matter of minutes, passengers breached the cockpit, took control of the plane, and restrained the co-pilot who had the controls.
The Israeli government has described the incident as a "hijacking" after the emergency call was made from the cockpit by the injured pilot, but Flydubai has cautioned against jumping to conclusions. The airline temporarily suspended travel to and from Israel pending a multinational investigation into the incident. Aviation security expert Tony Stanton said access to a passenger plane cockpit should not be possible.
"Whilst the door is not impenetrable, it is highly unlikely that you're able to get through that door," Stanton said. "Since September 11, there were significant changes to cockpit door security ... it was actually a standard introduced by the United States. " Passengers on board the aircraft said the door to the cockpit — a term which originates in 16th century cock fighting and has been adapted from naval terminology — was open when they approached it.
The Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after a violent altercation in the cockpit. Source: Getty / Erik Marmor "The door apparently wasn't locked and we managed to open it somehow," passenger Yaniv Hayoun told reporters. Hayoun later told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that as others tied up the attacker, "I jumped back, grabbed the controls, and started pulling back the handles", before other crew members took over.
Stanton said pilots in the cockpit typically need to press a button inside to open the door. He suspects Machchhar was able to do this while injured. Former A380 Airbus captain James Nixon said the pilot had "amazing" presence of mind in thinking to open the door after having been stabbed.
"Even if the cabin crew wanted to get in to help, they would firstly go through a procedure where the pilots have to let them in," he told ABC News on Thursday. "So, it would have taken a long time, and by that stage it would have all been over. "While the motivation of the co-pilot in the Flydubai incident is unclear, Stanton notes that mental health incidents with pilots are becoming more common.
In 2022 a China Eastern flight carrying 132 people was intentionally plunged into the ground in China by someone in the cockpit, black box data later found, killing everyone on board. In 2015, a Germanwings flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf was intentionally directed into the French Alps by its 27-year-old pilot, who had previously been treated for severe suicidal tendencies. All 150 people on board were killed.
Screening for pilot mental health in Australia is governed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority , which relies on a combination of mandatory periodic health assessments and regular examinations conducted by specialist medical teams. While the process is rigorous and the industry has extensive safety procedures in place to screen for troubled staff, Stanton argued that "a questionnaire on a screen every year" is not sufficient.
"Pilots are afraid of reporting things because if CASA takes away their medical, you don't have a job," he said. "Pilots are incredibly reluctant, sadly, to disclose some things when they go and do this yearly check.
" However, he said there is no way to make flying completely risk-free and that aircraft incidents will continue as passenger numbers across the globe are only projected to increase. "Even if we kept the accident rate the same today, if it's the same in 20 years, we will have more catastrophes simply because we're increasing the amount we fly.
" Readers seeking crisis support can ring Lifeline on 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 . More information and support with mental health is available atSign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.
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