Saw this too, apparently it’s a button/switch they press to unlock - not that the pilot has to physically get up and unlock it.
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My understanding is that most of the passengers were Israeli but the crew was Emirati, and the pilot Indian, copilot Omani. I have seen the conspiracy theories, it is easy enough to track what happens in flight on flightaware. I can’t believe anyone would intentionally dive a plane like that as part of a false flag, there is no guarantee you’d pull it out. It’s not unusual to have off duty pilots on flights as this one did, luckily for them. Also worth remembering most of those passengers would have done army service as there is conscription for both men and women in Israel. It’s not what you might consider an average load of passengers in many other countries.
As to whether terrorism, idk, that seems the obvious answer but it wouldn’t be the first time a pilot has intentionally crashed (or tried to) a plane full of passengers in a horrific way to commit suicide. I assume there is a cockpit voice recorder that may shed light on what was said between the pilots?
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The guy in the article apparently stabilized the plane by pushing some levers at just the right time. He did not land the plane. Per various reports, there were two off duty pilots on the plane who took over and landed it.
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Reminder that this is the cafe. If you’d like to discuss Israeli politics please use the PF (for the time being).
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Which he said he knew to do (pull back on the wheel) from watching a documentary series called Mayday (Air Crash Investigations). Although that’s an action I’ve seen and read in a zillion places over the decades. Then the two other pilots who were dead heading took over. Reports indicate they were there in case of flight changes that would have timed out the original pilots, and/or they were there for the return flight. So not random passengers who happened to be pilots.
And an Israeli dental surgical doctor stabilized the injured pilot.
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Here’s the latest recap…
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There were a bunch of “strokes of luck” on that plane. Reading about it and thinking about what could have happened gave me chills. I honestly hope that it’s a mental health issue for this one particular pilot, because otherwise, it would point to a possible gap in intelligence that might have alerted authorities in advance. Either way, it turned out as well as possible under the circumstances, and the outcome of the investigation will perhaps spur changes that will help lessen the possibility of a similar situation in the future.
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Yup. In the article I linked last night that started this discussion.
Either outcome points to a gap, though. There have been (according to Google) 4 “successful” attempts of pilots committing suicide like this, and noting that pilots often hide any mental health issues from the airlines because they don’t want to lose their jobs. That’s a different issue than a gap in intelligence, but no less concerning for the average passenger. Thankfully both these outcomes are exceedingly rare.
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Yes, sorry, that was more for the benefit of those who were speculating without having read the article.
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I do think there’s the risk of overreacting. Because of the attempted shoe-bomber, we still have to remove shoes going through security. Likewise the prohibition of liquids. Both, imho, cases of closing the barn door after the animals escaped.
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Please don’t be sorry! 
Just pointed folks to the initial source of this discussion.
Now my husband says he will watch Mayday without peeking at his phone periodically. 
We’ve been watching this show on Peacock and Prime cherry picking the episodes where at least someone survived!
One of my favorite streets in NYC.
Timeless, Infamous, Alive: Walking Canal Street
Famous for sidewalk merchants and street traffic, Canal has long been a rough-and-tumble corridor of commerce and creativity. The city wants to make it safer.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/09/30/nyregion/canal-street-redesign-nyc-traffic.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FVE.GhyS.GTnPfgsOPpb2&smid=url-share
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My husband is a huge fan of the air disasters program. I doubt he’d be able to fly a plane as a result of his viewing, but he knows enough from his years as an engineer on various platforms to be able to give it a try if he had to.
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Which of these schools would you pay their current tuition for?
Isn’t there a whole other “is it worth it”thread somewhere already?
of course. I just found the list.
Of course most families will not pay anywhere close to the list price even though college attendance is heavily tipped towards wealthier families. My daughter attended one of these schools and we didn’t spend $100k across all four years. We are definitely not low income (i.e., we are not Pell eligible).
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I think I may not spend a 100k, for our particular situation (CS major), at anything other than Harvey Mudd, Duke, Chicago and WashU. And if my kid were stronger, I would confine it to Duke.