A recent attempted hijacking of a FlyDubai flight underscores that the United States and its allies are employing outdated counterterrorism strategies against increasingly sophisticated adversaries, according to a U.S. rescue expert and 9/11 first responder.

"They’re good at chess," Bryan Stern, chairman and CEO of Grey Bull Rescue, told Fox News Digital. He described the radical ideology behind the FlyDubai incident as a significant warning for global aviation security and Western counterterrorism efforts. "And we’re, if we’re lucky, playing checkers – if we’re lucky – and I would argue we’re not even playing checkers that well."

Mixed with the narrative of the investigation into the co-pilot's possible links to Australia, United Arab Emirates investigators have characterized the incident aboard FlyDubai flight FZ1073 as an attempted terror attack. The co-pilot allegedly attacked the captain before attempting to hijack the plane, which was carrying over 170 passengers and crew, many of whom were Israelis.

Stern, whose nonprofit specializes in evacuations from conflict zones and hostage situations, stated that the thwarted attack by a "radicalized, Sunni bad guy" highlights how far behind Western powers have fallen in the post-9/11 era. "They understand us significantly more than we understand them," Stern said, emphasizing the need for the U.S. to grasp the concept of "asymmetric warfare" as effectively as its adversaries do.

Stern drew a parallel to football coaches studying game tapes, not just of their own team, but of the opposing players. "We gotta start watching some game tapes," he urged.

Investigators have described the incident aboard FlyDubai flight FZ1073 as an attempted terror attack after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to hijack the plane. The flight was carrying more than 170 passengers and crew, most of them Israelis. Australian authorities have also stated that a counterterrorism unit is investigating the co-pilot’s potential links to Australia.

"The bad guys are completely not afraid. They're completely emboldened. They have got the whole world to hate Israel, the whole world to hate us," Stern observed. "It's a tough problem."

In response to the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed his national security council to review security protocols for foreign civil aviation arriving in Israel. U.S. Vice President JD Vance indicated on Monday that flight security procedures within the United States are also under review.

Stern recounted a hypothetical scenario he was asked to consider years ago while still in government: If he were al-Qaeda, how would he attack the U.S.? His answer was to hijack four airplanes with 19 hijackers and crash them into American buildings, then issue a statement declaring that 20 years of war had not made the U.S. safer. "We're seeing, sadly," he lamented, "that academic hypothetical situation has now become a reality, or certainly a possibility."

Despite efforts to combat terrorist groups, Stern argued that "you can't bomb your way into peace." He stated, "They have been in holy war against us. We have now engaged in a holy war against them."

Stern elaborated on the complexity of combating ideological terror within the U.S. He noted that even with enhanced border security, terrorist networks might infiltrate the country using U.S. passport holders, making them difficult to identify and investigate before an attack occurs. He likened this to the release of suspects in the RAF Fairford investigation, where potential terrorist passport holders were freed on bail.

Stern highlighted the sophistication of current adversaries, contrasting them with groups like the Taliban encountered in Afghanistan. "The bad guys that we're talking about today are extremely sophisticated. They are extremely resourced, extremely resourceful. They're very intelligent, they're very smart, and they're very good at what they do."

He predicted that future attacks could potentially dwarf the scale of 9/11. "What will happen, probably is we'll get attacked – just like 9/11, we'll get attacked," he said. "We'll say, 'Oh my God, how did this happen?' People will wake up." Stern warned that this escalation is irreversible: "I promise you there will come a time... where we're gonna read about 9/11, and we're gonna say, 'Wow, that wasn't so bad, only 3,000 died.' Because we have created a holy war. We have now gotten into the crazy. And you cannot unring that bell."