Saj Ahmad

“Sadly, these real-time events are hard to predict and harder to bring under control. The Flydubai event yesterday was unique in that other flight crew were on hand to land the airplane,”

Saj Ahmad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-01

Ahmad said the Flydubai event was unique because additional flight crew were on hand to land the aircraft.

“Pilot vetting is very thorough, from security and financial checks to mental health evaluation,”

Saj Ahmad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-01

Ahmad said pilot vetting includes security, financial, and mental health checks.

“But those checks are a single snapshot in time and will never uncover whether a person has issues that then manifest in the workplace or flight deck,”

Saj Ahmad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-01

Ahmad told Al Jazeera that vetting checks are a single snapshot in time and may not reveal issues that manifest later.

“violence in the flight deck can vary, but often the strategy is to open the door so that other crew members can assist,”

Saj Ahmad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-01

Ahmad told Al Jazeera that cockpit violence strategies often involve opening the door so other crew can help.

“This is why it’s so hard to know what people think and what they may do if they feel a sense of some form of injustice,”

Saj Ahmad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-01

Ahmad added that it is difficult to know what people think or may do if they perceive injustice.

“It’s frightening to think of what the outcome would have been if those additional pilots were not there to take control,”

Saj Ahmad · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-01

Ahmad noted it is frightening to consider what would have happened without the additional pilots to take control.