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> Not to mention the changed calculus for the passengers if a hijacking were to occur. If there were no air marshals, and the cockpit door was replaced with a
by function_seven 3y ago
> Not to mention the changed calculus for the passengers if a hijacking were to occur.
If there were no air marshals, and the cockpit door was replaced with a 1970s-style beaded curtain hippie door, I would still expect future hijacking attempts to fail.
Before 2001, a hijacking was almost guaranteed to be an inconvenience for the rest of the passengers. A diversion to another airport, being stuck on the plane while negotiations happen, etc. After 2001 every passenger is going to assume they're being commandeered as a missile. There will be tons of resistance from 1A all the way to 33F.
(Strong cockpit doors are still a good idea. I'm not arguing otherwise. But the changed calculus you mention is enormous. It alone I think would make successful hijackings a rare occurrence.)
- shepherdjerred 3y agoWhat could the passengers do if the plane were hijacked and the cockpit door were locked? Isn't there essentially no way in? I agree though. Anyone familiar with 9/11 would fight hijackers with their life.
- reaperman 3y agoHow would the hijackers get into the cockpit? The pilots will never, ever, open the door because instead of maximum 100 passengers dying, the plane can be used to kill thousands of people. Plus the pilots themselves will live if they keep the door closed and go home to their families. There's not going to be a common hijacking scenario where the passengers have to get into the cockpit.
- j16sdiz 3y ago> How would the hijackers get into the cockpit? When the hijacker is the co-pilot https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26222674 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26222674
- kelnos 3y agoIf one or both of your pilots are determined to crash your plane, there's not all that much you can do about it. The plane is almost certainly going to crash. So I don't think we should optimize security for that case, which is also very rare. Most likely a hijacker will be a passenger, or, at worst, cabin crew.
- function_seven 3y agoYeah, that would be a bad situation, if the re-enforced cockpit door—meant to prevent hijackings!—became an enabler of them. Hopefully the resistance begins before a hijacker has a chance to jump over the beverage cart while one of the pilots is going to take a leak.