I have spent the last several nights thinking about Flydubai Flight 1073, and there is a question I cannot shake. I think we should all be asking it: How did this flight ever leave Dubai with this crew?

The extraordinary story of what happened in the air has understandably dominated the headlines. A captain was stabbed. Passengers rushed the cockpit. A reserve crew aboard was ultimately able to take control of an aircraft that had plunged roughly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds.