Rogue Pilots Are a Growing Safety Threat. No One Knows How to Stop Them.

Ryan Knutson (0:00)

Just a heads up, today's episode discusses suicide and plane crashes. Please take care when listening.

Last week, on a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, there was an altercation in the cockpit. The plane plunged 16,000 feet in under a minute.

Andrew Tangel (0:26)

The initial reports suggested that one of the pilots tried to crash the plane or at least put it into this dive for whatever reason.

Ryan Knutson (0:36)

Middle Eastern authorities say they suspect the first officer tried to crash the plane on purpose in an attempted terror attack.

Other pilots who happened to be on the fly Dubai flight were able to regain control of the plane and land it safely. Our colleague Andrew Tangel covers aviation, and the fly Dubai incident got him thinking.

Andrew Tangel (0:57)

It immediately triggered a thought that, oh, well, here's another case of potentially an intentional crash that we've been hearing about.

Ryan Knutson (1:04)

For the past year, Andrew's been reporting on a persistent problem in the airline industry.

Andrew Tangel (1:09)

You have these spikes over a few years in aviation fatalities, not for bird strikes, not for loss of engines, or some sort of mechanical problem, accidentally flying into terrain.

Ryan Knutson (1:20)

It's a safety concern that is often whispered about, but rarely openly discussed.

Andrew Tangel (1:25)

If the suspicions are correct, then it's this phenomenon of a pilot, someone in the cockpit, intentionally killing themselves and everyone on board.

Ryan Knutson (1:36)

In other words, rogue pilots crashing planes on purpose.

There is some disagreement that rogue pilots are a problem. In some fatal crashes where rogue pilots are suspected to be the cause, some investigators don't subscribe to that theory. But Andrew has spoken to current and former US air safety officials who say there is a disturbing pattern. The crashes are intentionally being carried out by pilots experiencing severe mental health issues. According to people familiar with the matter, the threat from rogue pilots has come up during high-level discussions at the Federal Aviation Administration and at the companies that design planes, like Boeing.

Andrew Tangel (2:20)

When reporting this, I've heard that inside Boeing, it's sort of quietly regarded among senior executives as one of, if not the biggest killer in commercial aviation these days.

Ryan Knutson (2:33)

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Ryan Knutson. It's Thursday, October 8th.

Coming up on the show, a deadly problem in the airline industry that no one wants to talk about.

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Ryan Knutson (4:36)

In the 1960s, 70s and 80s, when fatal plane crashes were more common, not as many people relied on air travel to get around.

Andrew Tangel (4:44)

But in the 90s, as flying became more popular, the industry and government realized that if flying continues at the same growth rate, we're going to have many more fatal crashes.

Ryan Knutson (5:00)

The FAA worried that more planes in the sky would mean more accidents and more deaths.

Andrew Tangel (5:07)

What can we do to make aviation even safer? And so they focused on essentially changing how the government, the FAA in this case, enforces its regulations.