I disagree that the sky marshals should get involved in anything other than an individual, whether armed or no, who gets up and tries to hijack the aircraft. That would leave them too exposed. Imagine a smart hijacker(and the really bad ones are anything but dumb/untrained) having an accomplice cause a disturbance which exposes the sky marshals, rather defeats the purpose IMHO.
If the SAS are training them then I have few concerns. They trained me when I was with 1 Commando(Reserves) in Sydney a very long time ago
They are very very good at what they do and if they demand the highest standards, as this situation requires, then we will be in good hands.
As far as shoot first, question after? My experience of the SAS is that if they decide to pull the trigger there are few questions that need answering later! I feel that this side of things is probably being overstated by the press for effect anyway.
Forget all the crap that you see on TV, be it Rambo or Channel 10 news, anything they come up with will bear virtually no likeness to the reality of the situation.
As far as the captain needing to know exact details, I wouldn't/don't feel that need. What I would like is a gaurded switch in the cockpit that sets off a beeper in the sky marshals pocket, that's all I need.
The police? <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0">
That we need this in Oz skies at all is very sad, but undeniable.
Chuck.