In-flight attack on FlyDubai pilot puts aviation security measures under fresh scrutiny

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has some of the world’s most stringent air travel security measures. The United Arab Emirates proudly adheres to international aviation safety standards. Yet those safeguards failed to prevent a flight between the countries from taking a dangerous plunge during an alleged attack in the cockpit.

The copilot allegedly stabbed the captain in the cockpit before passengers intervened aboard FlyDubai Flight FZ1073 after taking off from Dubai, UAE, with 174 people flying to Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday. The airplane made a safe emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and the incident is under investigation by Saudi, Emirati and Israeli authorities, with the United States and Oman assisting efforts to determine a motive. “Until this event, the possibility of a threat originating from a pilot or crew member was not considered a likely scenario.

Security efforts have traditionally focused much more heavily on passengers and their luggage,” said Eyal Hulata, Israel’s former national security adviser. “That will probably change now and crew members will be subject to heavier screening.” Israel’s security protocols focus heavily on Israeli airlines and departing flights from Ben-Gurion International Airport. A potential Achilles’ heel lies overseas, where procedures for Israel-bound flights vary and are harder for Israeli authorities to oversee.

Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic, has built some of its appeal around a reputation for safety in a volatile region, said Philip Baum, a visiting professor of aviation security at Coventry University in England. “They are very conscious of the fact, a little bit like Israel in many respects, that they cannot afford to have a terrorist attack happening on a flight out of there,” he said. Pilot vetting and preflight screening aren’t uniform worldwide Investigators have not publicly identified the object used to stab the flight’s captain or said whether it was carried onto the plane or came from inside the aircraft.

Preflight screening of flight crews should generally “mirror very closely what a passenger goes through,” although security procedures vary around the world, said Dave Komendat, a senior security adviser at risk management firm International SOS and former chief security officer for Boeing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said …