Well, does anyone know of a case where an incapacitated pilots random limb thrashings were sufficient to direct the aircraft straight towards a population centre, and the other pilot was not able to intervene, but fortunately the purser managed to dash into the flight deck just in time to prevent the aircraft from spearing into a skyscraper killing thousands?
It staggers me, reading this and other threads, that people don't seem to be able to grasp realities of the new situation that we find ourselves in. On this site, and in the crewroom at work, people seem unable to grasp the simple premise that in order to deny the hijackers the use of the aircraft it will be necessary to (a) have a robust door, (b) lock it and (c) not to open it regardless of the threats or actions carried out against the cabin crew or passengers.
This requires the flight crew to have the courage not to try and 'have a go' but rather to make the tough decision to stay put.
As far as the viewpoint that the solution is to prevent the wrong people getting onto the aircraft, well fine. I suggest that instead of spending time doing simulator drills of emergencies that we simply spend more money making the aircraft more reliable. After all, if an engine never fails I won't need that engine failure practice, will I!
Perhaps Chris Darke should have said "... SOME pilots..."
I do agree that ideally the lock needs to be controllable from your seat, but I say give me a robust door NOW, since we are presently bombing these people, and if it takes a couple more months to get the mod for the electric door lock sorted out, fine. In the mean time just give me a supernumery crew member. God knows there are enough spare flight and cabin crew kicking around!
CPB