A recent incident involving flydubai Flight 1073, in which a pilot attempted to deliberately crash the aircraft, has reignited concerns about pilot-related risks to airline safety. The event this week ended without fatalities after the co-pilot was able to reopen the cockpit door and passengers subdued the attacker, safely bringing the plane down. However, similar cases in aviation history have resulted in tragedy.
In 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps when co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit and intentionally flew the plane into a mountain, killing all 150 people aboard. The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in 2014 also remains unsolved, though some experts consider pilot suicide a plausible explanation for the deviation and ultimate loss of the aircraft. More recently, the investigation into the June 2025 Air India crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed 260 lives, has suggested that deliberate pilot action could be a potential cause, although no definitive conclusion has been published.
These cases follow the 9/11 attacks in 2001, when four hijacked airliners were flown into targets, resulting in massive loss of life both in the air and on the ground. Ironically, the introduction of fortified cockpit doors after 9/11 made it nearly impossible for crew members to regain access in cases like the Germanwings tragedy.
Aside from intentional acts, pilot error remains a significant factor in air disasters. The 2009 crash of Air France Flight 447, for instance, involved pilots manually overriding autopilot after it had disengaged temporarily and inadvertently causing an aerodynamic stall that led to the aircraft plunging into the Atlantic Ocean. While modern aircraft are highly automated, over half of fatal commercial crashes today are attributed to pilot mistakes or improper responses to technical issues.
There are notable exceptions where pilot intervention has saved lives. Chesley Sullenberger’s emergency water landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009 is widely regarded as a heroic act that prevented loss of life. Still, some analysts argue that automated systems could perform such emergency procedures reliably, potentially reducing reliance on human judgement during critical moments.
The technology for fully automated, pilotless airliners exists and is already applied in various forms of unmanned aviation. Automation of commercial flights, which require less complexity than driving vehicles on unpredictable roads, could theoretically improve safety by eliminating human error and risks of intentional sabotage by crew members. Some within the industry advocate for transitioning to pilotless commercial aircraft to enhance overall flight safety, while others emphasize the importance of human oversight in managing unexpected or complex scenarios.
As investigations into recent and past incidents continue, the aviation sector faces ongoing scrutiny over balancing automation and human control to optimize passenger safety.