Comments on: The Pilot Threat

By: Alan

Alan — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:51:10 +0000

I understand that the cabin crew tried to open the door first using the passcode but that the co-pilot kept resetting the door somehow. Maybe not allow that possibility of locking out the cabin crew? Certainly that also carries risks but I think I would rather err in that direction than the other.

By: wilson

wilson — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 21:52:16 +0000

If the flying public and the pilots want a day-in-day-out worry, they should consider bedbugs. The irony being, well, you know.

By: Lee Taplinger

Lee Taplinger — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 03:58:57 +0000

I’m sure the passengers were all thinking Why didn’t someone tell us about the name change to DieDubai.

By: Grichard

Grichard — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 00:37:00 +0000

What an oddly defeatist take on the possibility of further improvement. The rule about 2 people in the cockpit was one response to this threat; I don’t understand why other changes aren’t possible.

Now that broadband communication with aircraft has become a solved problem, the capability for remote video monitoring of the flight deck seems like one area for exploration. Probably somebody more knowledgeable than I could think of many others.

By: Michael Kennedy

Michael Kennedy — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 21:54:56 +0000

You didn’t mention the biggest threat – religious suicidal furries in the cockpit.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 17:16:14 +0000

I recall that following 9/11, TSA kept taking your silverware kit from you as it had “a knife.” Back then, you made a compelling argument that, as the pilot, you could crash the plane with or without a knife.

That remains the truth today.

By: Rod

Rod — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 15:40:02 +0000

Agree with Chandelle on AI171. A few pretty sharp questions need answers before pilot suicide can be accepted as fact.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 15:33:38 +0000

For many years, Patrick, I have relied on your dispassionate analyses of events in the airline industry. You never fail to deliver.

By: Paul Lynch

Paul Lynch — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 15:30:33 +0000

This incident’s outcome turned on the captain getting that cockpit door open. I am wondering if that measure needs to be so absolute now that there are risk factors on both sides of that door.

In Star Trek II, Khan hijacks a starship and attacks Enterprise but Kirk is able to use a security code to override the other ship’s command console and remotely drop their shields. Maybe, something like that might be possible?

By: Gary Mullen-Schultz

Gary Mullen-Schultz — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 15:29:03 +0000

Thanks. Agree 100%

Still waiting for an article with your impressions of flying Boeing vs. Airbus!