Posted on 10/03/2026 10:01:50 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
The ax required by regulators is intended for emergencies but puts a weapon in reach for attackers
DUBAI—A central mystery of this week’s attempted downing of FlyDubai Flight 1073 has been how the co-pilot managed to smuggle a weapon into the plane to carry out his attack. It turns out he didn’t. The weapon he used is a cockpit fixture.
United Arab Emirates authorities said Saturday the co-pilot attacked his captain with the plane’s crash ax—a tool that regulators around the world require airplanes to carry.
Designed for use as an emergency tool to tear through metal in case of a fire or a crash, the crash ax instead became a weapon the co-pilot wielded to wound his captain and try to take over the controls of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 over Saudi Arabia.
The use of the ax highlights the tough trade-offs regulators face as they try to guard against competing threats to safety on planes. Those include reinforced cockpit doors designed to keep out dangerous passengers like those behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S., but which make it harder to stop internal threats like the FlyDubai incident this week.
The ax is required to be on board U.S. carriers as well as those in the U.A.E. But Wednesday’s attack likely will draw renewed scrutiny to the risks it poses, particularly in situations where the danger lies in the flight deck.
“There’s some sort of process in place for checking out who the pilots are, that clearly did not work, there was some failure there,” said Chuck Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Break glass in case of sudden jihadi syndrome. Works both ways.
Interesting, makes sense.
I am not sure, If they should change the regulations.
I imagine, that his axe could be quite useful and life saver in many cases.
It is almost impossible to prevent any such accidents from people in charge (airplane from pilot, car from driver, etc.).
The co-pilot is not just sitting there, it flies the airplane sometimes, e.g.. when captain uses restroom.
So he could do it at that time, without ever using the axe.
We have at least two crashes, as I remember, when pilot committed suicide by crushing the plane.
This, but the grace of God, would be another one!
As far as regulations against these situations, all airlines should make sure, they hire safe pilots!
Maybe, some additional pilot screening and regular check should be in place.
Of course, the answer is that anyone in the cockpit should wear a sword...
A crash ax almost saved the lives of the passengers and crew of German Wings Flight 9525 in 2015 when a suicidal pilot locked the cockpit while his copilot was using the head and then pointed the plane toward a mountain in the French Alps. The copilot used the ax to try to chop through the door to get back into the cockpit, but was unable to do so before the plane hit a mountain, killing all aboard.
Both commander and deputy in ICBM launch control facility wear a sidearm for just this reason.
What if the guy who went nuts killed the sane one?
Ax doesn’t really matter if they will let a known jihadi fly.
There’s a simple solution to this crap. Genocide.
The assailant pilot had already been fired from Omani Air and was improperly vetted by the subsequent carrier. Same syndrome as the one where bad teachers go to other states or districts and get hired. Human error
It seems to me that everyone constantly fails when it comes to muslims.
New rule : No Muslims in flight crews or ground staff?
Axe the axe.
Put some zippers on the outside of the fuselage.
I'm glad you axed that querstion...
Intentional or unintentional Human error.
They also let him to fly to Israel!
Another error.
I am sure he would be OK flying to Mecca!
“ There’s a simple solution to this crap. Genocide.”
islam is not a race.
L
That's not a solution by any stretch of the imagination.
Muhammadanism is an idea, and thanks to the Internet, all ideas have achieved immortality.
We need to get used to the idea that we'll NEVER be rid of Muhammadanism, and there are two and only two ways to deal with it.
#1, submit to Sharia.
-- or --
#2, Engage in an eternal game of Wack-A-Muslim. Keep them at arms length by killing them every time they give you an excuse or an opportunity. Exactly the same way you deal with coyotes.
Had that still been the case 40 years later, the world would be a much better place.
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