WWW,
I presume you have some idea how much 24/7 CAP over every airport capable of jet operations in the World will cost!
Who will pay for that?
Who will explain the accidental shoot down of some small nations aircraft that is having comms problems and wanders off track a bit?
Why are you all so keen to finish the job, economically speaking, that the terrorists started?
Sorry WWW but move to the top of the silly/expensive/impractical ideas list.
People if we keep kicking around, let alone let Govt Agencies keep kicking around, truly dumb ideas that have NO CHANCE of a positive effect on the problem this industry is FINISHED economically.
Arming crews will not work for the reason that to use a suitable weapon effectively requires LOTS and LOTS of specific training. The SAS train LONG and HARD at effective Anti Terrorist scenarios. Just shooting someone, who is probably on an INCREDIBLE Adrenaline high won't necessarily slow them down, let alone disable them. There was a case of a gun fight between US FBI Agents and two nutcase gunman in Florida years ago and one nutcase was shot a dozen odd times(over quite a long period of time) before he finally stopped shooting cops dead! What finally stopped him ? Loss of blood! 6, from memory, Cops died before the guy just collapsed! Macho bravado aside there would not be 10% of airline crew with the skills and mental strength to make the split second correct decision required to do other than agravate the situation, or shoot an innocent pax who is behind the baddy.
Seperate cockpits is not economically possible.
Any amount of airport security would not have stopped last weeks tragedy, unless the Terrorists were on a data base! What percentage of the worlds POTENTIAL terrorists will ever make it on a database.
Depressurise at FL350 and possibly kill how many innocent pax?(or are the masks going to deploy thereby giving your trained/motivated nutcase another chance?) Imagine the Law Suits from the Ambulance chasers!
Some sort of 'Knock out Gas'? Imagine the
PR nightmare that would cause the airlines that try to intro it? Accidental discharge Knocks out tech crew?
2g spiral down the suitable airport that just happens to be right below you in the 2 or 3 minutes that this will all be over in? Through, with the advent of RVSM, 35 or 40 other levels with possible traffic.
For the sake of our industry and professions PLEASE stop all this paranoid, meaningless ramble and contact your IFALPA reps and insist that the ONLY airline that hasn't and probably won't suffer this attrocity is approached to brief Govt and Airline management on the techniques that HAVE WORKED for them for decades! Israeli Airlines.
Chuck.
[ 16 September 2001: Message edited by: Chimbu chuckles ]