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You could hardly describe that as a flaw when the alternative was 9/11. It's a trade off on balance of probabilities. A suicidal copilot can still to this day c

You could hardly describe that as a flaw when the alternative was 9/11. It's a trade off on balance of probabilities. A suicidal copilot can still to this day crash any aircraft with only slightly more creativity. For example hitting the fuel cutoffs at 500ft after takeoff.

avar 7y ago
The alternative isn't a repeat of 9/11. You're assuming that passengers aren't a whole lot more motivated to overpower hijackers after 9/11 than before. One reason 9/11 could happen is that passengers generally assumed a hijacking was mostly a scary inconvenience, not a life-or-death situation.
- magduf 7y ago
  Exactly; another 9/11 situation is impossible now. They just need to keep doing screenings of passengers and their carry-ons to make sure no one can bring obvious weapons on board; anything else is unnecessary and possibly counterproductive. If someone tries to hijack the plane using razor blades or whatever, the passengers will literally murder them.
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    It still doesn't hurt to keep them out of the cockpit, though. Quickly stabbing the pilot to death is likely to at least kill or injure a plane's worth of passengers.
    - magduf 7y ago
      True, but what if the pilot is having an emergency, or the copilot has decided to commit suicide while the pilot went to the bathroom? There should be a way of getting the door open quickly if enough people authorize it (perhaps at least 2 crewmembers).
  - VBprogrammer 7y ago
    I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic or not. If not you have a lot of faith in people's willingness to sacrifice themselves to save others.
    - magduf 7y ago
      I guess you haven't been paying attention, because there have been hijacking attempts since 9/11, and they did not go very well for the hijackers.
      - blackflame7000 7y ago
        Literally, 5 days ago: https://nypost.com/2019/07/03/deranged-passenger-arrested-for-trying-to-break-into-cockpit/ https://nypost.com/2019/07/03/deranged-passenger-arrested-fo...

avar 7y ago

The alternative isn't a repeat of 9/11. You're assuming that passengers aren't a whole lot more motivated to overpower hijackers after 9/11 than before. One reason 9/11 could happen is that passengers generally assumed a hijacking was mostly a scary inconvenience, not a life-or-death situation.

magduf 7y ago
Exactly; another 9/11 situation is impossible now. They just need to keep doing screenings of passengers and their carry-ons to make sure no one can bring obvious weapons on board; anything else is unnecessary and possibly counterproductive. If someone tries to hijack the plane using razor blades or whatever, the passengers will literally murder them.
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  It still doesn't hurt to keep them out of the cockpit, though. Quickly stabbing the pilot to death is likely to at least kill or injure a plane's worth of passengers.
  - magduf 7y ago
    True, but what if the pilot is having an emergency, or the copilot has decided to commit suicide while the pilot went to the bathroom? There should be a way of getting the door open quickly if enough people authorize it (perhaps at least 2 crewmembers).
- VBprogrammer 7y ago
  I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic or not. If not you have a lot of faith in people's willingness to sacrifice themselves to save others.
  - magduf 7y ago
    I guess you haven't been paying attention, because there have been hijacking attempts since 9/11, and they did not go very well for the hijackers.
    - blackflame7000 7y ago
      Literally, 5 days ago: https://nypost.com/2019/07/03/deranged-passenger-arrested-for-trying-to-break-into-cockpit/ https://nypost.com/2019/07/03/deranged-passenger-arrested-fo...