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First, I want to acknowledge that the most dangerous part of any flight is the drive to the airport, especially if you get dropped off on the upper roadway at SEA.

But I must admit that the next time I fly, it鈥檒l be hard not to think about the story of the off-duty pilot who suddenly reached for the engine shut-off at 31,000 feet on that flight from Paine Field to San Francisco.

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Happy ending, no one hurt. But it was one of those stories I found myself reading several times, hoping for some explanation that would make sense.

We鈥檝e been told it wasn鈥檛 terrorism, which I guess is reassuring. Except, that actually expands the universe of people we have to worry about as we assess our fellow passengers during the boarding process.

We鈥檙e all prepared to tackle someone who lunges for the cockpit, but somebody who鈥檚 already in the cockpit? I don鈥檛 have a plan for that.

Fortunately, the pilot and co-pilot did, and they handled it just as you鈥檇 expect. Very cool, very calm, as if it was just a little turbulence over the Rockies. And once the plane safely landed, a flight attendant got on the PA and announced that the unruly passenger had a mental breakdown and needed to be off the plane as soon as possible.

So, what do we learn from this? Well, number one, it’s a good thing there were two strong pilots in that cockpit! Remember last year’s proposal to eliminate the co-pilot to cut costs? I don鈥檛 think that鈥檒l be coming back!

Although I suppose airlines could use this to justify planes flown by AI with no cockpit and no pilots. In which case I鈥檒l just ask all my relatives to move out here.

But the one detail that still worries me is that, according to a federal official quoted by , the suspect was en route to San Francisco, where he was scheduled to be on the flight crew of a 737.

And on the 737, he would have been on duty and very likely one of only two people in the cockpit. And the struggle would have been one-on-one. What鈥檚 the Plan B for that?

As passengers, all we can do is weigh the odds, which are still very much in our favor. And so, I鈥檓 going to classify this as a one-off that鈥檚 not going to change my confidence in pilots because every time I鈥檝e peeked into the cockpit and I see those uniforms and I hear that calm voice saying, 鈥淲e鈥檙e number one for takeoff; flight attendants take your seats,鈥� I immediately relax.

Well, almost immediately. When I walk through First Class and see a guy who looks like he might be a sky marshal, then I relax.

Listen to Seattle鈥檚 Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O鈥橞rien weekday mornings from 5 鈥� 9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.