Next Plane Hijaking Not Going To Be So Easy

I'm with you. I'm surprised they didn't put up more resistance on those planes, since they were told they were going to die anyway. There were threats of a bomb... well, obviously the plane itself turned out to be a flying bomb. Maybe they didn't realize what was really going on... but, if it was me, I'd do everything I could, with my bare hands if I had to. What's the worst that can happen - you could die? See, there's nothing to lose.

Hopefully you are right and it won't be so easy from now on (though I'm surprised knives were ever allowed on planes). Hopefully the planes will have some sort of armed security guard... I know some weapons might not work the same at high altitudes. I bet an _attack dog_ would work the same at high altitudes. And, for goodness' sake, lock off the cockpit.

 

I highly doubt that the next attack on america will come from a commercial airliner, more likley an 18-wheeler or boat or private plane.

I hope we are spending as much time securing other forms of transportation as we are the airports.

 

I'm with you FDK. They can stab me with their pen knives, but I'm not going out sitting in the back of the bus. If they've really got a bomb you're probably gonna buy the farm anyway. And I'm not going to sit in my seat while they cut up stewardesses with razors, either.

 

I work at the corporate office of the Union Pacific Railroad here in Omaha and all of our trains are on high security alert.

 

The majority of hijacking-type operations result in the people being held surviving. The "macho" thing is just as likely to only get you and the other hostages killed as it is to save lives. That's the messed up thing about all of this.

 

That is not true. They told them to divert to washington to begin negotiations and everyone would be safe if they do as their told. The only reason why the plane in PA was taken back was because they already heard about the WTC and they knew their doom. Im just curious how it crashed and not taken over ... unless the terrorist dude crashed it on purpose. Who knows.

Hijacking passanger planes are a thing of the past. There are acceptable losses now. Its ok to ground a plane instead of crashing it into a building. People will fear this and will take over. Passangers will no longer be scared sheep. The crash in PA proved this.

What do we need to be scared of? Commercial Planes, like UPS, FedEx, Cargo Planes ect ... These planes can be hijacked w/out going through checkpoints (sneaking in) and their crews are small, so they can be killed with little resistence.

 

Well, that's normally what I would have said. But that obviously was not true on the last 4 hijackings, now is it.

I also think its very short sighted to call anyone who would act in that situation a "macho" type. Because you wouldn't sit and let a terrorist take you down does not mean your mind is 'clouded' by too much testosterone or that you think you're John Wayne or whatever.

 

Let's get some things straight first before we express shock at people on those flights not doing anything :

1) Planes, to my knowledge, have rarely, if ever, been used as missles since the Kamikaze's. I doubt too many of those people on-board knew this was a suicide mission.

2) Did anyone on the first or second planes to hit the WTC know of the hijackers' intentions? If not, they did the right thing by doing nothing.

3) The passengers on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania knew something was up, and apparently they did something thereby saving possibly several hundred more lives.

4) I'm unsure the passengers on the plane to hit the Pentagon knew anything either. Someone confirm.

If only one group of passengers knew what the intent of the terrorists were and they forced the plane down, then no one was wrong in their actions.

This type of attack on this scope was unprecedented, so I'm sure most of the victims tried to stay calm and stay out of the way, so the plane could land and negotiations with the hi-jackers could begin.

 

I agree in most cases it is wise to remain peaceful and that the only reason the PA flight went down was because of cell-phones whic gave valuable insight.
Pilots are trained to work with hi-jackers. In most cases all they want is a ride to a location.
I agree it has all changed now. There will be more heros, and more people will die because of this heroism.
But on the other hand hi-jacketrs must now know this as well. A simple hi-jacker trying to get to Cuba will rwlaize if they try to take over a flight that they will have less co-operation.

First thing I think is the pilot needs to be secure in the cabin. The door needs to be shut and locked and not penetrable. If you can't get to the pilot you can't control the plane. Only problem is the pilots need to be able to get out during an emergency landing.
If the pilots are secure they still control the plane, then they can deal with hi-jackers by taking them to other locations if stewardesses or passengers are threatend. There is no reason for them ever opening that door.

 

Will this be the most awful terrorist event in our lifetimes? Who knows, but I also agree that the next attempt won't be, or at least won't be successful, via airplane. The sad truth of it is, sooner or later, some crazy terrorist is going to give the order to unleash something like anthrax or ebola (or whatever else more modern viruses they have now) on the NYC subway system, and in days you would see hundreds of thousands, even millions of people dead. America would be put under military rule for a time and certain devestating force would definitely be unleasahed on the rest of the world. Pray that we never see that.

 

You have to remember, the people never dreamt that the plane would be used as a missile. Police constantly tell people that when you're held at gun point, give the perpetrator what they want and try not to be a hero because it could get you and other needlessly injured or killed. I'm sure that up until Tuesday, hijacking was considered along the same lines.

 

I agree. The door should remain closed at all times from this point forward. It's not an easy thing to do, and some innocent lives may be lost because of it, but a lesson was learned this week. No doubt.

 

<B>Well, that's normally what I would have said. But that obviously was not true on the last 4 hijackings, now is it. </B>

Well of course not. Unfortunately, now people's lives may be guaranteed to be lost, even if a future hijacker didn't intend to crash the plane anywhere.

In general, passengers attacking hijackers is more likely to cause problems than anything else. The easier solution is to protect the cockpit from being accessed by the hijacker. If the hijacker does want to land the plane somewhere, he can make that demand from the cabin.

 

We had a friend who was a flight attendant on flight 175,Al Marchand.Al was also an ex police officer,who had recently switched careers.I'm sure with his training he would have known what to do in this type of situation.He could have been dead allready before the plane hit the tower,we'll never know.
Its easy to sit behind your computer and second guess.No one knows what happened except for the dead.I've been trying to imagine what went on up there but it's impossible for any of us to know that the passengers knew of thier impending doom.

I believe that had they known,you would have seen a different outcome.I doubt if the hijackers told them the plane was going to be crashed into the WTC,that would have jeopardized the mission.These terriorist didn't just come up with this at the spur of the moment.