FlyDubai incident: Airline safety expert explains how cockpits have become more secure – but only from outside threats

An incident aboard FlyDubai Flight FZ1073 in which a pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to crash the aircraft has renewed scrutiny of cockpit security, according to Israel’s prime minister. Passengers reportedly entered the cockpit and subdued the alleged attacker before the plane diverted safely to a Saudi runway; Israeli fighter jets were scrambled in response.

An aviation security expert writing independently notes that post-9/11 reforms, hardened cockpit doors, background checks, identity verification, and the Federal Flight Deck Officer program, were built almost entirely to keep outside threats from breaching the cockpit. The 2015 Germanwings crash, in which a pilot locked out the captain and deliberately crashed the aircraft, is cited as a prior case showing the same blind spot.

The expert states plainly that most security measures do little to stop pilots from taking over a plane themselves, and that the system ultimately still depends on trusting the people in charge of the aircraft.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.