Rogue pilots may be the most dangerous threat to passengers. They’re ‘just about impossible’ to stop

October 6, 2026 — 1:22pm

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The near-tragic incident with the Tel Aviv-bound flydubai jet has the industry scrambling to manage what could be best described as the ultimate nightmare for passengers and airlines – what do you do if the pilot goes rogue?

The flydubai flight FZ1073 incident on September 30 is being described as an attempted terror attack by co-pilot Hamam al-Hammami. The alleged attack was thwarted because the other person in the cockpit - Captain Smit Machchhar - was able to unlock the door, allowing passengers to intervene.

It was the narrowest of escapes, owed to the actions of those onboard, but it exposes a number of weaknesses that the aviation sector will have to address.

The first is the insider threat posed by a rogue pilot, which in the flydubai flight’s case was Al-Hammami’s attempt to plunge himself and all on board the jet into a fatal dive. It’s not without precedent in aviation history.

‘Immense courage and an unwavering resolve’: Captain in bloody cockpit struggle hailed as hero

In 2015, Germanwings flight 9525 was deliberately crashed by the first officer, killing 150 people on board, in a case of clear pilot suicide. Others – such as Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in 2014 or a China Eastern Airlines flight in 2022 – are suspected to be pilot suicide.

In these cases, the pilot entrusted with the lives of passengers is suspected to have betrayed them by crashing the plane.

Pilot-suicide remains a theory in the Air India crash in June 2025 that killed 260 people as well.

While pilot-suicides are extremely rare, detecting and preventing a pilot from going rogue is also extremely difficult.

Dr Warren Harrex, a........

© The Sydney Morning Herald