AARON PATRICK: flydubai’s attempted hijacking will force a re-assessment of aviation security
AARON PATRICK: Flight 1703’s survival is a warning that security measures designed to defeat terrorism after the 9/11 attacks may need to be reconsidered.
On what should have been a routine flight for holidaymakers returning home yesterday, security upgrades introduced 25 years ago to prevent hijackings almost had the opposite effect.
Flydubai pilot Smit Machchhar had to fight for his life in the cockpit of his Boeing 737, separated from passengers desperate to save him, and themselves, by a code-locked steel door made mandatory after the 9/11 attacks on the US.
The attempted hijacking raises a problem for airlines, aircraft manufacturers and regulators around the world: how do you make flying safe when a terrorist sits behind the controls?
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The motivations of the first officer in the flydubai case are unclear. Donald Trump, who was briefed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said he was “perhaps a terrorist or perhaps a whack job”.
Whatever the specific circumstances, it is impossible to ignore geopolitics when considering aviation safety.
Security screening
The rise of the Dubai-based Emirates and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad, especially for Australians travelling to Europe and back, has shifted the centre of gravity in international aviation. The United Arab Emirates, which has established itself as a stabilising force in a turbulent region, will have to explain how the security breach happened and what will be done to protect Israeli and other travellers from now on.
The Nightly was told by aviation security consultant Shannon Wandmaker, who has contacts in Dubai’s commercial aviation industry, that the co-pilot smuggled a small knife on board and used it for an initial attack on Captain Machchhar. The co-pilot then used an axe stored in the cockpit to inflict more serious injuries on the Indian pilot. Before 9/11, those axes were kept in the main cabins.
Security screening at Dubai International Airport, where the flight boarded, is as thorough as most airports around the world. Even passengers in transit from Europe are required to go several through layers of checks, requiring huge resources for an airport that handled 95 million passengers last year.
Whether the same degree of scrutiny is applied to pilots is unclear.
Spreading fear
Within Israel, the heroism of Captain Machchhar and passengers was greeted with joy. Once again Israel was seen to have defeated its enemies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces election on October 27, placed himself at the centre of the celebrations by conducting a personal question-and-answer session with plumber Yaniv Hayun, who pulled the plane out of a fatal dive.
Once the initial euphoria fades, the incident is likely to reinforce the sense of the Jewish homeland surrounded by enemies. Even states that have established diplomatic relations with Israel — the UAE only made peace six years ago — will be seen as places where antisemitism will not die.
Israelis know the war in Gaza has hardened international opinion against them. A survey by the Pew Research Centre from February to May found an average of 67 per cent adults in 36 countries regard Israel unfavourably, while 25 per cent have a positive view. Australian views were more hostile, at 79 per cent against and 19 per cent for.
Oman, the flydubai co-pilot’s home country, wasn’t in the survey. But the conservative Islamic monarchy is certain to be more hostile towards Israel than most of the rest of the world. In the mid-1800s, the Gulf country was home to around 350 Jewish families, who mainly conducted trade in the port cities. Today the Jewish population is roughly zero, a depopulation seen across much of the Middle East.
For those who seek the destruction of the nation where those Jews went, air travel terrorism is particularly potent. It attracts huge attention and touches citizens of countries far from the conflict, spreading fear globally.
An estimated 106 passenger flights take off every minute around the world. Inevitably one will be flown by a person susceptible to the oldest hatred. While the survival of flight 1703 is a cause for celebration, it is also a horrible warning that those locked doors at the front of passenger planes cannot always shield flyers from evil.
