After the Flydubai Attack, Being Stressed Doesn't Make You a Threat: 3 Things Pilots Can Do
UAE prosecutors are treating the Flydubai attack as attempted terrorism, but some of the coverage has turned to pilot mental health. If that has you feeling more watched, here’s how to keep your own stress in perspective and where to take it.
On September 30, the co-pilot on Flydubai flight 1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv attacked the captain a little over two hours into the flight. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft dropping more than 14,000 feet within about two minutes. Captain Smit Machchhar, seriously injured, got the flight deck door open; passengers and crew restrained the co-pilot, and relief crew traveling on board took the controls and landed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
On October 3, the UAE’s attorney general said the co-pilot “attempted to carry out a terrorist act,” attacking the captain with the aircraft’s crash axe and trying to take control of the aircraft. Authorities haven’t publicly established a motive or said whether he acted alone, and news reports that he was previously barred from flying in Oman over alleged extremist views haven’t been officially confirmed. Even so, some of the coverage has focused on how airlines screen pilots’ mental health, and Bloomberg ran a piece on the incident bringing pilot suicides back into focus.
What This Coverage Does to Pilots Who Are Just Stressed
If you fly for a living, you may have felt it this week: A little more watched, and a little less sure it’s safe to admit you’re tired, anxious, or carrying something heavy. That reaction makes sense. According to the FAA, about 20 percent of mental health diagnoses reported to it are initially deferred, which leaves the pilot without a medical until the deferral is resolved. When a violent event gets folded into a conversation about mental health, pilots who are simply struggling can hear that speaking up would put them in the same category as the person in the headline.
That fear isn’t irrational. An FAA expert panel found that getting approval to fly on an antidepressant can take more than a year. Under the FAA’s antidepressant protocol, a pilot needs at least three continuous months on a stable dose before certification can be considered, so changing a medication or its dose can mean months off flying. The FAA itself acknowledges that “getting to yes” can be very costly in time and money. Those are real costs, and nobody should pretend otherwise. Here are three things you can do this week that don’t start with a decision about your medical.
Thing One: Separate Your Stress From the Headlines
Stress, grief, burnout, and checkride nerves are common in a demanding job. What happened on flight 1073 is a violent act that UAE prosecutors describe as attempted terrorism. Feeling worn down after a long trip, anxious about a type rating, or short on sleep during a hard stretch at home is a different thing, and you don’t need to measure yourself against that headline. If you notice yourself bracing every time the story comes up, name it for what it is: A reaction to coverage about someone else.
Thing Two: Talk to Someone Early
The FAA itself says that “the longer a problem persists, the more challenging the recovery.” Getting support early doesn’t have to begin with a doctor’s appointment or a box on MedXPress. It can look like any of these:
- A conversation with your airline’s or union’s pilot peer support program, if you have one
- A confidential coaching session focused on stress, confidence, and performance under pressure
- An honest check-in with a CFI, chief pilot, or crewmember you trust
- A conversation with your union’s aeromedical advisors, or an AME experienced with mental health cases (the FAA routes antidepressant cases through HIMS AMEs), before you make decisions about care, so you understand how anything would need to be reported and what the path could look like
- If what you’re carrying feels like more than stress, licensed care matters more than any timeline; get that aeromedical guidance alongside it, not instead of it
Item 19 on MedXPress asks you to list visits to health professionals such as physicians, psychologists, and clinical social workers, plus counseling related to a substance abuse or psychiatric condition. Coaching isn’t health care, so it isn’t one of those visits. That makes it a good fit for stress, confidence, and performance. It isn’t a substitute for care when you need care, and it doesn’t change what MedXPress requires you to disclose about any diagnosis, treatment, or visit to a health professional.
“A system that incentivizes people to remain silent will cause pilots/controllers to avoid seeking help, leading to unacceptable safety risks.” The FAA, Fact Checking Medical Myths in Aviation
Thing Three: Check On the Pilot Next to You
Flight 1073 landed safely because the captain got the door open and the people on board acted. On an ordinary day, peer support depends on the same thing: Someone noticing and acting. The FAA lists championing pilot peer support programs among its steps to reduce stigma. If a crewmember, student, or fellow instructor seems off this week, ask how they’re doing and give them time to answer. You don’t need the right words or a solution; listening without judgment, and knowing where to point them if they want more, is enough to start.
You learned IMSAFE in training. In the FAA’s Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, the S asks whether you’re under psychological pressure from the job or dealing with money, health, or family problems, and the E asks whether you’re emotionally upset. Those two are the easiest to rush. Before your next trip or lesson, take two minutes and answer these in full sentences, on paper or out loud:
- What’s taking up the most room in my head today, and how long has it been there?
- Has it shown up in my sleep, my focus, or my flying? Where, specifically?
- Who is one person I could say this to this week?
If an answer makes today a no-go, that’s the checklist doing its job. If it points to something that’s been building for weeks, that’s your cue to use one of the options in Thing Two.
Check the latest reporting before you share specifics.
- The National: UAE attorney general’s statement (Oct 3)
- Al Jazeera: What we know about the accused co-pilot and the UAE investigation (Oct 3)
- TIME: What the Flydubai incident reveals about pilot screening
- Bloomberg: Flydubai near-disaster brings pilot suicides back into focus
- FAA: Fact Checking Medical Myths in Aviation (deferral rates and cost; page last updated August 2024)
- Reuters via The Spokesman-Review: FAA expert panel findings on deferral and wait times
- FAA: AME Guide, Antidepressant Protocol (3-month stable dose, HIMS AME evaluation)
- FAA: Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, Chapter 2 (IMSAFE)
- FAA: MedXPress instructions, Item 19 (visits to health professionals)
If you’re in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, any time.
Start with the free, confidential Career Pilot Mental Fitness Check to see where you are. If you want to work on it, 1:1 coaching covers stress, confidence, and performance at any stage of your flying, not only before a checkride.
Take the Mental Fitness Check → Explore 1:1 Coaching →Your students may bring this week’s headlines to the next lesson. Coaching for CFIs covers burnout, difficult student dynamics, and the pressure of building hours while teaching.
Book CFI Coaching →Workshops that give your students and CFIs a shared, practical way to talk about stress before it shows up in training.
See Workshops →- The NTSB Has Its Timeline. You’re Allowed to Be Rattled on Yours.If the news is sitting with you: Who you can call, what’s safe to say, and the reporting question that stops most pilots.
- Two Pilot Mental Health Bills Just Passed the Senate: 4 Things Every Pilot Should KnowWhat could change about FAA mental health reporting, and what hasn’t changed yet.
