Is the USA prepared for another hijacking?

Sword_Of_Truth said:
I think the pilot community is still fairly well alerted. A scenario nearly identical to 9/11 is not likely now or within the next twenty years or so. .
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what about a non-Western pilot?

what about a pilot from South America, Asia, Africa, or the Middle East?

they are probably a bit more susceptable to a hijacking and someone getting into the cockpit.

....let alone being suicidal pilots.

but my question still remains: what if the plane is successfully taken over?

do we have the system in place ready to shoot down a commercial airliner within 30 minutes from the hijacking taking place?

i say no way, Jose.
 
Sword_Of_Truth said:
Not gonna happen. No pilot will ever again open the cockpit door in-flight to an unknown person. They all have peep-holes now too.

I have a friend who used to fly F-18s for the Canadian Air Force and now flies for Air Canada. He says he he gets a knock on the door in-flight and sees a stranger through the peephole, he's just gonna do a barrel roll and drop the silly bastard on his head.
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Can a 747 sustain a barrel roll? Just curious. I would just figure the wings were set up to hold the weight only one way.
 
Thunder said:
key words. what if a flight attendant has a knife to her back, and asks the pilots to open up.

"very calmly, knock on the door and ask to come in. if you don't, I shall cut you open".
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That's a very precisely positioned terrorist. He's able to position himself directly behind the flight attendant in such a way that the (co)pilot doesn't see him at all.


this is 9 years after 9-11. our sense of imminent danger has pretty much passed. we have calmed down.
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Enough so that the passengers would calmly sit and let the plane be hijacked instead of trying to resist? Or even without making enough noise to warn the pilots?
 
MG1962 said:
No cause the little air thingies automatically drop when the cabin dumps its air
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i was about to say this would at least limit the mobility of the hijackers, but then i remembered the flight crew would have portable oxygen supplies the hijackers could steal

would make for an interesting fight though, seeing who can hold onto the oxygen long enough to win. which is why we need those cameras looking out from the cockpit, gotta have something to put on youtube :p
 
Thunder said:
what about a non-Western pilot?

what about a pilot from South America, Asia, Africa, or the Middle East?

they are probably a bit more susceptable to a hijacking and someone getting into the cockpit.
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why?
 
drkitten said:
That's a very precisely positioned terrorist. He's able to position himself directly behind the flight attendant in such a way that the (co)pilot doesn't see him at all.

.....
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I knew there was a reason we could not allow large pear shaped stewardesses.
 
Thunder said:
Does the USA have a secure enough system in place to prevent another 9-11?

I mean honestly, small blades are allowed on planes. Five guys with knives could get on, and take over the cockpit with a little luck and speed.
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Not likely. 9/11 was a 1-time event in the sense that previously to that, standard operating procedure for passengers was to hold tight and wait it out.

It's not anymore. Everybody on the plane, passenger or crew, will fight tooth and nail, given the ultimate goal of the terrorists.

Secondly, getting past the locked door would be tougher. Threats to kill the stewardess unless they open up will, unfortunately but properly, fall on deaf ears, given the ultimate consequences to the plane as a whole.

They'd have to wait for a coffee or pee break and make a jump. But then you still have all the passengers to deal with when this starts happening.

Third, pilots are ready to start flipping the plane around, slamming the terrorists into the ceiling, again because of the ultimate goal of the terrorists. It's a calculated risk.



But the big difference is the first point -- 9/11 changed the standard operating procedure for passengers and crew from one of passivity and old-school "Take me to Cuba!" hijackings. Hence it cannot be repeated with anything remotely like that ease.
 
Cleon said:
Is a barrel roll even feasible on a large passenger jet? And can it be done quickly enough to do any good, or will the hijackers have time to brace themselves?

The air pressure idea might be a little more practical.
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Well, loop-the-loops are possible. There was a jet that was having major problems near Chicago, I think, and it dove down to like 3,000 feet before the pilot pulled it out, coincidentally performing a loop-the-loop in the process.

The jet commentator pointed out they didn't think this could even be done.


As for a barrel roll, not needed. Just dip the nose up and down and they'll slam into the ceiling. So, too, will anyone not belted in, but TS in that situation. This is easily within tolerances, as planes are designed for negative-g turbulence. There was a 747 en route to Japan about 15 years ago that had a massive, negative-g turbulence bump, slamming people into the ceiling, including one stewardess who was killed by a broken neck.
 
Beerina said:
As for a barrel roll, not needed. Just dip the nose up and down and they'll slam into the ceiling. So, too, will anyone not belted in, but TS in that situation. This is easily within tolerances, as planes are designed for negative-g turbulence. There was a 747 en route to Japan about 15 years ago that had a massive, negative-g turbulence bump, slamming people into the ceiling, including one stewardess who was killed by a broken neck.
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This is probably why the interior of the vomit comet is heavily padded.
 
MG1962 said:
No cause the little air thingies automatically drop when the cabin dumps its air
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The aux oxygen masks only last like 10 min. There are some tank operated portable units that the crew uses to move around, but that aside once that runs out they'll pass out.

The issue is that action could very well kill the passenger as much as the terrorists.
 
I think the scenario unlikely in the extreme now, but I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit render all the passengers unconscious prior to flight. It's the only way to be sure.
 
commandlinegamer said:
I think the scenario unlikely in the extreme now, but I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit render all the passengers unconscious prior to flight. It's the only way to be sure.
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That's like yielding to terrorists. They've already won in such case and didn't even do anything beyond hinting another attack.
 
ok, it is clearly less likely to hijack a plane from a western country.

but what about a plane on route to the USA from African, Latin America, African, and Asia?

my question still stands: are we prepared to deal with a hijacking once it takes place?
 
Thunder said:
my question still stands: are we prepared to deal with a hijacking once it takes place?
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Are we willing? Who will take the flack for ordering the shot? Particularly so when it seem so profitable "war wise" to just let it reach target.
 
Java Man said:
Are we willing? Who will take the flack for ordering the shot? .
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after 9-11, the amount of "flack" would be nill.

the nation would understand, especially after finding out the intended target was a nuclear power plant or the Sears Tower.
 
Thunder said:
the nation would understand
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Would it? By the way the idiot priest issue is being handled I would be inclined to believe not. What better way to stop a terrorist attack than to prevent it by not disturbing the hornets nest. But no, there's the media blowing it out of proportion making it all worse for all of us. And where's "the nation"? Certainly not stopping the guy and much less so the media.
 
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