The day began with an attempted hijacking of a FlyDubai plane headed to Tel Aviv. The co-pilot was an Omani national and the pilot who heroically fought him off was an Indian national named Captain Smit Machchhar. During the fight Machchhar managed to unlatch the cockpit door, saving the entire cabin. A pair of standby pilots with FlyDubai were able to land the aircraft in Saudi Arabia where the passengers were safe.
As if it wasn’t already bad enough, many in the legacy press began their coverage kid-gloving the story, even after we knew it was an attempted hijacking. This is important, because as I was going to air there were still outlets verbatim calling it an “altercation” even after the plane had diverted and landed in Saudi Arabia and the confirmed reports were filed.
Kudos to the AP for getting it right and keeping it right. Credit were due:
Not so much some of the others:
This was an international flight on an Emirati airline. I have friends and acquaintances who fly these airlines. There were Americans on this flight.
UAE, one of the first nations to sign the Abraham Accords and began direct flights to Israel in 2020 as part of normalizing relations, spoke with Netanyahu and confirmed they’re conducting a full security review.
What pilots can be trusted now? Who’s to say that a flight to Athens won’t be diverted for another 9/11-style attack aimed at Israel with innocent bodies — including innocent American bodies on board?
Petter Hornfeldt would be a great resource to ask about pilot screening, aircraft security and safety. He is a 737 pilot captain and has dedicated his life to educating the public on airline safety and lessons learned. His story on Germanwings flight 9524 does a deep dive on a pilot who was determined to self-destruct.
https://youtu.be/lotcRYD42e0?is=VT8562FP-m9Q0woU
https://mentourpilot.com
Just ANOTHER reason I don't ever plan to fly again. Too many crazy people as passengers in the airports, pilots being promoted too soon while qualified and experienced pilots forced out at age 62 (and don't forget those fired for not getting the jab) and now you can have one pilot attack another. This was going to be another PA 9/11, but thankfully, the captain had the presence of mind to unlock/open that door or we would have been talking about a devastating crash.