174 passengers and eight crew were aboard the FlyDubai flight that made an emergency landing in Tabuk after a copilot allegedly attacked the captain with a cockpit crash ax.
Buzz Patterson, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and former Delta pilot, said the case shows terrorist cells or radicalized staff could exist inside foreign airlines and that current self-reporting-based screening is inadequate.
The Boeing 737’s cockpit ax itself may be a security loophole, he said, because a copilot in the tight flight deck could easily grab it while standing or stretching.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the copilot appeared to have undergone Islamist radical indoctrination, while investigators were still examining whether the motive was terrorism, mental health or possible Iran links.
Patterson said U.S. authorities should scrutinize not only domestic hiring but also foreign crews allowed into American airspace, arguing post-9/11 aviation safeguards still leave major gaps.