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A routine flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv became the scene of a midair nightmare on Wednesday when the pilot of a FlyDubai jet is alleged to have stabbed his co-pilot before attempting to bring the aircraft down. The assault was only halted when passengers and crew members intervened, subduing the attacker before the plane could crash. The startling episode has reignited scrutiny of a dark and recurring category of aviation disasters: crashes and attempted crashes deliberately instigated by the very people trusted to fly the aircraft.
Unlike conventional hijackings carried out by external attackers, these incidents are especially difficult to guard against because the perpetrator often holds the keys to the cockpit, knows the aircraft's systems intimately, and operates beyond the reach of ground security measures. The FlyDubai case, still under investigation, appears to fit that profile, with the pilot himself suspected of orchestrating the attack midflight.
Aviation safety experts note that such events remain statistically rare compared with mechanical failures or pilot error, but their psychological and institutional dimensions make them uniquely challenging. The motivations documented in past cases range from untreated mental illness and personal despair to financial ruin, professional disgrace, and ideological grievance. In nearly every instance, investigators later found warning signs that colleagues, employers, or medical professionals had failed to connect or act upon.
One of the most widely cited examples occurred when an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot riding in the cockpit jump seat of a Horizon Air jet from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco suddenly tried to shut down the plane's engines. The aircraft was diverted and landed safely in Portland with more than 80 people aboard. Joseph Emerson later told police he had been despondent over a friend's recent death, had consumed psychedelic mushrooms, and had not slept for days — a combination that raised urgent questions about how crew members are screened even when off duty.
Even more catastrophic was the crash of a China Eastern Airlines flight from Kunming to Guangzhou, which plunged into a mountain and killed all 132 people on board. Chinese authorities have still not published a final investigative report, but data released earlier this year by American investigators indicated the jet's engines were deliberately shut off and that a struggle occurred in the cockpit before the nose-dive. The prolonged silence from Beijing has frustrated victims' families and amplified international calls for transparency.
The 2015 Germanwings disaster remains the defining modern case of a pilot using his position to commit mass murder. Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit during a flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf and steered the aircraft into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. Investigators subsequently revealed that Lubitz had long struggled with depression, suffered from sleeplessness, and feared losing his vision — and had contacted dozens of doctors in the period before the crash without his employer being alerted to the full picture.
In another notable case, the co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa to Milan hijacked the jet and diverted it to Geneva, Switzerland. Hailemedhin Abera Tegegn surrendered to local police and requested political asylum. Remarkably, none of the 193 passengers were harmed, but the incident underscored how a single crew member's decision can redirect an entire flight across international borders without warning.
Investigators in Mozambique concluded that the pilot of a Mozambique Airlines flight from the southern African nation to Angola deliberately crashed the jet into a national park in Namibia, killing all 33 people aboard. According to authorities at the time, pilot Herminio dos Santos Fernandes locked the cockpit door and set the plane on a crash course while the co-pilot had stepped out to use the bathroom — a chilling detail that has since informed debates about cockpit access protocols.
A transatlantic EgyptAir flight from Los Angeles to Cairo plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 passengers and crew. American investigators determined that co-pilot Gameel Al-Batouti set the aircraft on a crash trajectory while the captain was out of the cockpit, then shut off the engines as the captain returned and fought to regain control. Egyptian authorities disputed those conclusions, attributing the disaster to mechanical failure — a rare public schism between two national investigations that left the cause officially contested.
The crash of a SilkAir flight from Jakarta to Singapore near the Indonesian town of Palembang killed all 104 people on board a new-model Boeing jet flying in good weather. Indonesian investigators concluded that "unlawful interference" was the likely cause, noting that pilot Tsu Way Ming appeared to be preparing to leave the cockpit before the voice recorder cut out. Authorities also documented that the pilot faced significant financial problems and had been subjected to several company disciplinary actions, including a demotion — factors that fed speculation about motive.
In a Moroccan case, a pilot crashed a Royal Air Maroc flight from Agadir to Casablanca into the Atlas Mountains roughly ten minutes after takeoff, killing all 44 people on board. Investigators found that Younes Khayati disengaged the autopilot and sent the plane diving toward the ground as the co-pilot tried unsuccessfully to intervene. The Associated Press reported at the time that it was "the deliberate wish of the pilot to end his life," though a union representing pilots publicly disputed those findings.
Cargo operations have not been immune either. An off-duty FedEx flight engineer attempted to hijack a company cargo plane from Memphis, Tennessee, to San Jose, California, while occupying the jump seat. Auburn Calloway attacked the flight crew with a hammer and a spear gun, but the crew managed to subdue him and land safely, despite suffering extensive injuries in the confrontation. Investigators concluded Calloway intended to crash the aircraft after facing possible disciplinary measures — a motive echoed in several other cases.
One of the earliest recorded incidents involved a Japan Airlines flight from Fukuoka to Tokyo that crashed into Tokyo Bay during landing, killing 24 of the 174 people aboard. Investigators determined that a fight broke out in the cockpit as pilot Seiji Katagiri engaged reverse thrust prematurely. They later found that Katagiri, who survived the crash, had a documented history of mental illness but had nonetheless been cleared to fly.
Taken together, these episodes reveal persistent gaps in how airlines, regulators, and medical examiners assess the psychological fitness of flight crews. Confidential reporting systems and peer-support programs have been introduced in several countries since the Germanwings crash, yet enforcement and disclosure standards remain inconsistent worldwide. The FlyDubai investigation is likely to renew pressure on carriers and authorities to reexamine cockpit security, mental health screening, and the protocols that determine when a pilot should be grounded rather than entrusted with hundreds of lives.
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