Then there’s the case of the pilot riding in the jump seat who had been taking magic mushrooms to deal with grief and depression, and genuinely thought the best course of action was to crash the plane. (he didn’t report his condition prior to resorting to elicit substances in fear of losing his career, which is a whole other rant. For those interested, this video goes more into that side of the story)
Granted he wasn’t flying (and didn’t try to fly, per-se), but I doubt that a single pilot could subdue someone who is tripping balls and keep a commercial airliner in the air simultaneously.
Or the many, many, many other cases that don’t make headlines in which a warm spare became imminently critical for the safety of hundreds of people (both in the air and on the ground). The reason they don’t get media attention is because “Situation on Plane Ended in the Good Way, System Worked as Intended” isn’t a headline that get clicks.
Hell, even aircraft themselves are built with redundancy for critical components. How in the fucking world could one even begin to justify not doing so for us squishy humans?
It’s not that this idea is just stupid, this idea is dangerously stupid.
I’ve got a friend that lives with me, my friend’s name is Nobody…