Is the USA prepared for another hijacking?

leftysergeant said:
Knive dop not intimidate people who think they are going to die whether they fight or surrender.

We just assume the worst now, so I doubt that any interceptor commander would hesitate to smoke a hijacked plane.

And the rightwhackers will still scream that it Obama's fault.
Click to expand...

I agree with you Lefty. No plane full of people is going to sit idly by. Before you were taught to believe stay calm and no one will get hurt.

And I do agree many right wingers would blame Obama much the same as many on the left blamed Bush for 9-11.

I suspect a lot of people on the left would blame Bush if there was a hijacking now.
 
boooeee said:
Not sure if this is possible, but could the pilot temporarily depressurize the cabin to knock everybody out?
Click to expand...

No cause the little air thingies automatically drop when the cabin dumps its air
 
Tricky said:
If a would-be hijacker started threatening to kill... or worse, actually killing passengers, what would the pilot do?
Click to expand...


You know I can understand where you are coming from here. I would expect that any decent human being would be hard pressed to deal with the sounds of people being killed left and right behind them and not to give into the demands.

Maybe this is wildly idealistic of me, but I would hope said pilot would realize that if he did give up control, everyone on the plane would still be dead anyhow, and now it would also include potentially thousands of innocent victims on the ground as well. And therefore, not give into the demands.

I'm not sure if I'd have the intestinal fortitude to make that determination and stick with it. But I'd like to hope that most pilots would find a way. But again, maybe that's idealistic and not realistic.. I just don't know what would happen...
 
Sword_Of_Truth said:
Not gonna happen. No pilot will ever again open the cockpit door in-flight to an unknown person.
Click to expand...

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".

this is 9 years after 9-11. our sense of imminent danger has pretty much passed. we have calmed down.

therefore...we are in danger of it happening again.
 
Last edited:
I'm surprised how many want to just "no way, not gonna happen again, ever" response.

I'd like to believe that, but I can't personally figure for every single possible action and reaction that can happen. What makes you guys so sure? Are you really certain that every passenger would definitely jump up to defend the plane? Are you really certain that you have considered every possible angle this could unfold on, and how it may complicate things?
 
Cleon said:
Is a barrel roll even feasible on a large passenger jet?
Click to expand...

Roll rate on most aircraft is quite high. The mass of most aircraft is quite close to the longtitudinal axis and the ailerons are the largest control surfaces.

And can it be done quickly enough to do any good, or will the hijackers have time to brace themselves?
Click to expand...

Depends how many the pilot does. When the floor and cieling of the room you're in switches places 2 or 3 times a minute, there's not much you can do to brace yourself.

Keep in mind, the "Vomit Comet" astronaut training vehicle, is a civilian aircraft with minimal modifications.

The air pressure idea might be a little more practical.
Click to expand...

Until the masks drop from the overhead compartments.
 
Whiplash said:
I'm surprised how many want to just "no way, not gonna happen again, ever" response.

I'd like to believe that, but I can't personally figure for every single possible action and reaction that can happen. What makes you guys so sure? Are you really certain that every passenger would definitely jump up to defend the plane? Are you really certain that you have considered every possible angle this could unfold on, and how it may complicate things?
Click to expand...

Maybe a passenger will have a baby terrorist on the plane who will come out with a box cutter, which will distract the passengers while the pilot who is a terrorist puts on a clown mask and alerts the passengers that he they are not actually in a nose dive.
 
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".
Click to expand...

Then the flight attendant says she has the coffee and the roll that the captain ordered.

At which point the hijacker falls on his head due to an unannounced barrel roll.
 
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".
Click to expand...

Call up Larry Flynt...you might need some help with the final draft, but the hijack/fantasy/porn angle is great! :D
 
AaronMHatch said:
Maybe a passenger will have a baby terrorist on the plane who will come out with a box cutter, which will distract the passengers while the pilot who is a terrorist puts on a clown mask and alerts the passengers that he they are not actually in a nose dive.
Click to expand...


See, there you go.. that's at least one reasonable scenario that would not be so black and white to deal with.

:rolleyes:

I tried to ask a sincere question in a non insulting manner. What's with these kinds of responses? If it's just for fun and humor, then hey.. great. But I'm still sincerely asking where people get this strong sense of it "can't happen again, ever". One thing I've learned in life is that no matter how much I think I have thought out and covered every possible angle.. I ACTUALLY HAVEN'T.
 
Whiplash said:
See, there you go.. that's at least one reasonable scenario that would not be so black and white to deal with.

:rolleyes:

I tried to ask a sincere question in a non insulting manner. What's with these kinds of responses? If it's just for fun and humor, then hey.. great. But I'm still sincerely asking where people get this strong sense of it "can't happen again, ever". One thing I've learned in life is that no matter how much I think I have thought out and covered every possible angle.. I ACTUALLY HAVEN'T.
Click to expand...

If you reread the thread, you'll see that I'm actually part of the crowd that is thinking of different angles.

I was only joking. You should feel honored, however - you're on the receiving end of the final joke I ever tell.
 
Last edited:
Sword_Of_Truth said:
Or a window in the door made of bullet-resistant glass.
Click to expand...

very...very good idea.

though, skinny hijackers can hide behind skinny stewardesses.

and..if somehow they are able to get a gun on the plane (cell phones have been converted into small caliber hand-guns), the hijacker can be pointing the gun at the flight attendant, out of the sight of the cockpit door.

there are a million says to get into a cockpit, if you're a smarty pants.
 
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.

However, that doesn't give Al-Qeada room to play with. OBL and KSM were creative, we need to think as outside the box as they did.

How about a propane tanker truck rigged into a giant fuel air-bomb and driven into the Superbowl on game day? Or the West Edmonton Mall on Boxing Day?

Or a string of smaller attacks. The Columbine massacre still scars the national psyche, despite having a little over a dozen casualties. Imagine the havoc that could be wrought by parking a dozen truck bombs outside a dozen daycare centers across the country.

Timothy McVeigh showed the incredible carnage that could be wrought with just a thousand pounds or so of fertilizer and fuel oil, two of the most uncontrolled substances in the modern economy.

One question that has haunted me since 9/11 is what keeps AQ from attacking again. It sure as hell ain't the lack of opportunity to hijack airplanes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom