Airline pilots face aptitude tests, psychometric screenings, medicals, simulator checks and security vetting before they ever carry a passenger. Then the cockpit door locks, and 300 people essentially take it on faith that the right people are up front. A veteran captain with 45 years in aviation — and more than a million passengers flown — argues that trust should be backed by something spreadsheets can't measure: experienced human judgement in the selection room.
His piece was prompted by a disturbing incident. UAE authorities say that on 30 September 2026, a flydubai co-pilot attacked the captain and tried to seize control of flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The motive remains under investigation, but the case has reopened an uncomfortable question: how well does the industry really know the people at the controls?
Aviation has engineered risk out of the aircraft itself over decades — engines rarely fail now, redundancy is layered, and flight-data monitoring catches problems early. As machine reliability improved, attention shifted to human factors: Crew Resource Management, fatigue management, Safety Management Systems. The flydubai incident, though, points at an earlier, blunter question — who gets into the cockpit at all?
The grim precedents are well known. After 11 September 2001, cockpit doors became fortresses. But Germanwings flight 9525 in March 2015 showed the threat can already be inside: a first officer with a serious, concealed mental-health condition locked the captain out and flew an Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 aboard. Investigators found he had seen doctors and held unfit-for-work certificates, yet the information never reached the right people. That tension matters: pilots must be able to seek help for depression or anxiety without fearing career-ending consequences, or they'll simply hide problems — making everyone less safe. Support and confidentiality need to coexist with a clear route to ground someone genuinely dangerous.
The captain's core concern is what selection may be losing. European rules require psychological assessment before line flying, and airlines run extensive checks. But professional judgement — whether someone listens, admits mistakes, handles criticism, keeps ego in check — used to be filtered by experience. He recalls interviews where a senior captain simply talked with candidates: worst decision you've made in an aircraft? Ever broken a rule? What would your old chief pilot say about you? Aviation was once a small world where reputations followed people. Today, a pilot can jump from flying school to an airliner's right seat with hundreds of hours, no employment history and exam results as the only evidence of character.
His prescriptions are refreshingly unglamorous: keep the tests and psychology, but put experienced operational captains back at the heart of selection. Make background checks meaningful rather than box-ticking, with references that actually say something. Continue oversight through a career, not just at hiring. He jokes about a 'Common Sense Management System' — ask not just whether a candidate can pass selection, but who they are.
For travellers, this is a useful reminder that aviation safety is as much about people as machines, and that a disciplined push for better selection is a good sign, not an alarming one. Source: Simple Flying.
