“It is a miracle.” A former American officer reveals how the cockpit door of a Flydubai plane was opened.

Questions are growing about how passengers were able to reach the cockpit and thwart an apparent hijacking attempt on a Flydubai flight on Wednesday. The alleged assailant - one of the pilots - stabbed his colleague inside the cockpit while the plane was falling, until the passengers were able to control him, restrict his movement, and stabilize the plane.

Israel stated that the injured pilot, Smit Machhar, opened the cockpit door from the inside during the attack. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said via “X”: “Despite his severe injury, he was able to open the cockpit door, allowing the Israeli passengers and the Emirati cabin crew to intervene and rescue all passengers.”

Josh McConkey, a colonel in the US Air Force Reserves and an emergency physician, said the aviation industry made sweeping changes to security measures and protocols following the September 11 attacks, including strengthening the cockpit door to prevent potential hijacking attempts. “Unless somebody can open that from the inside, you can't get in,” said McConkey, who is also running for lieutenant governor of North Carolina.

He added: “This is one of the things that makes this event so exceptional; the pilot himself - despite being stabbed and sustaining injuries that almost took his life and bleeding profusely - was able to reach back and open that door, and then an ordinary person rushed in and lifted the plane from that steep landing position. In the wake of the events of September 11, American airlines were obligated to install permanent reinforcements for all existing cockpit doors, and to integrate these reinforcements into newly manufactured aircraft.

Many airlines and manufacturers have chosen to use bulletproof and composite materials, as well as reinforced door frames and locks. The International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency that oversees the global aviation sector, sets a similar set of standards that member states adhere to.

Marco Chan, a senior lecturer in flight operations at Kingston University in London, said that investigators examining the Flydubai accident will likely first examine the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. They will also question the cabin crew, off-duty pilots and passengers, and seek to determine - among other pressing questions - how to open the cockpit door.