A hijacker who stabbed the pilot and got into the cockpit was overpowered by passengers, averting a 9/11-style disaster — a frightening sign that cockpits are still reachable, but a reminder that crews and passengers now fight back.

• The attacker stabbed the Indian captain mid-flight and forced his way into the cockpit.
• Passengers on board, many of them Israeli, jumped in and subdued him — one tied him up with a headphone cord.
• The man who led the takedown was a plumber with no military or aviation background, who later credited what he had picked up from an air-crash documentary series.
• The attack came a week before October 7, feeding Israeli fears that airliners remain soft targets.
• Two decades of post-9/11 security did not keep an armed attacker out of the cockpit.

Outlook: Expect fresh pressure to harden cockpit doors and tighten screening on international routes.