Originally Posted by
anson harris
Look, these rules are written in blood. Any pilot who disregards them, unless there's a flipping good reason to, is exhibiting one of several known attitudes that are hazardous to flight safety: a problem with authority. So whilst this incident might well have been perfectly safe, it potentially indicates a problem with the PIC's suitability to do his job. We don't know all the facts: it maybe that there was a good reason for this to happen, but it feels unlikely to me.
They're not.
They're written in fear and changing society, evolving towards less and less acceptation of the slightest risk, and more and more towards
juridicization (which is : unduly giving matters a legal dimension).
Why am I writing that ?
9/11 was, of course, not the first plane hijack. Before that, plane hijacks were commonplace. Not all of them lead to death, but it happened many times that a hijack was followed by death.
Hijacks had been happening for decades. There were several of them each year around the globe. There were also bombings and other types of attacks.
9/11 was the hijack with, by far, the most terrible consequences, but the concept wasn't new. The reaction was overly prudent.
The concept wasn't new. For example in 1994, some Algerian terrorists hijacked a plane and wanted to crash it somewhere in Paris. 7 years before 9/11. Some people died in this event, passengers and terrorists. They didn't succeed, but only because it was anticipated and the authorities and crew didn't let them. (They would have destroyed the plane in flight if needed)
What changed in between ? Just more fear. Which is exactly what terrorists want us to feel. By taking irrationnal measures we are letting them win.
Were the terrorists that day known by the flight crew ? In no way.
But nowadays in the UK/US, apparently, you can't fly in the flight deck with your own wife or kid. Except if they're flying personnel from the same airline you work at.
Is it a fair rule to ban the captain's wife to fly in the cockpit ? Do you really think the captain's wife would crash the plane ? Many countries allow the pilot's friends and families to travel in the flight deck. We're still yet to hear any story of that kind from these places.