AVIATION is a very unforgiving business. There are rarely any second chances. Security protocols, regulatory recommendations and scrutiny of individuals for recruitment on merit are mandatory. Aviation safety demands that standard operating procedures be followed rigidly. There is no room for political theatrics in aviation by state or non-state actors. This places a great deal of responsibility on the state of registry and the national regulatory authorities of countries.
Two incidents, both involving low-cost airlines, have occurred. One of them was a fatal suicide crash that occurred on 24 March 2015, when Germanwings Flight 9525, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, while flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, crashed 100 km northwest of Nice in the French Alps, killing all 150 passengers. First Officer Andreas Lubitz, on this ill-fated A320-211 flight, deliberately put the aircraft into a nose-down descent while the captain, shortly after reaching cruising altitude, was out of the cockpit. The captain could not re-enter the cockpit because, following 9/11, cockpit doors are armoured and can only be opened from within by pressing a switch. In any case, the G-forces generated by the rapid rate of descent can disable individual movement in the aircraft cabin.
First Officer Lubitz had been treated for suicidal tendencies, unknown to the airline, by a private doctor. He was declared unfit by a private doctor but kept this medical assessment secret from the airline. Lubitz locked the cockpit door and put the aircraft into a nose-down suicidal descent into a mountain. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) implemented recommendations requiring at least two authorised individuals to be in the cockpit at all times during a flight. It also stressed that all airlines should regularly carry out psychiatric evaluations of flight crew members. The low-cost airline did not carry out proper medical and psychiatric evaluations of First Officer Lubitz. Cost-cutting measures and shortages of trained pilots can lead to the skipping of such protocols.
Regular scheduled airlines, especially national carriers, hire newly licensed pilots, train them and carry out detailed medical and psychiatric evaluations. Individuals with a previous history of gross moral turpitude, sexual harassment or major criminal offences are weeded out before or during the training phase. Unfortunately, some low-cost airlines end up hiring such individuals, posing a threat to the lives and safety of passengers. The captain of the ill-fated Germanwings A321 could not re-enter the cockpit because the door had been locked by the co-pilot from inside.
A crash axe (fire axe) is mandatory emergency equipment that must be carried on every commercial aircraft. It is like a hammer and can be used to facilitate evacuation in the event of an emergency. A blow from a crash axe to the human skull can be fatal. It can be used to break bones. Inflicting deep open wounds is not likely to be achieved except on the head and other vulnerable parts of the body.
Recommendations by any aviation regulatory authority are mandatory if an airline wants to operate in the airspace under the jurisdiction of that regulator. Scheduled Gulf-based airlines have an unblemished record for operational standards and in-flight service. It is, therefore, intriguing how a major security lapse could occur on a low-cost airline based in that region. Flydubai operates direct and connecting flights to numerous destinations from Dubai to Europe. It should have carried out EASA recommendations, including regular psychiatric evaluations of its cockpit crew and other flight crew members.
The presence of a pilot with a history of extremism and suicidal tendencies on record should never have been overlooked by this low-cost Gulf-based carrier. Radicalized individuals, be they Muslims, white extremists, Hindu supremacists, Zionists or extremist Christians, should never be hired. Extremist tendencies can blind individuals because they are likely to resort to extreme measures, as was allegedly witnessed in the Germanwings fatal crash.
The details of this Dubai-to-Tel Aviv incident raise many questions. If the captain had the energy to stand up and open the cockpit door, why did he not press the switch on the overhead panel to open the door? Despite the G-forces involved when an aircraft is in a nose-down rapid descent, a plumber who had no training as a pilot reportedly managed to control and stabilize the aircraft. This looks more like a Bollywood dramatic scene. By a strange coincidence, two pilots were also travelling and managed to land safely amid all the turmoil of an alleged botched suicidal attempt.
This accident must be probed thoroughly to restore passenger confidence. The muted response of otherwise very vocal aviation experts in the foreign media raises many eyebrows, given the timing of this incident, which occurred just 26 days before a crucial election in Israel. It is the responsibility of sovereign states, especially the major economic and military powers, to restrain themselves from adventurism involving commercial aviation.
It is an unfortunate reality that Israel, as a state, has been involved in political assassinations and other such extreme measures in pursuit of its political agenda. What makes matters worse, according to the author, is the support it receives from well-entrenched Zionist lobbies in other countries and nations that harbour ill-will towards Muslims.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
