I believe that we should consider how to combat this latest form of airborne terrorism.
The mass and velocity of an aeroplane, when targeted at a ground feature will cause enormous damage. In order to target the aeroplane, a pliot on the flightdeck has to be coerced into using his aircraft as a weapon, or replaced by another pilot who is prepared to die for his cause.
Both of these scenarios require an assailant to gain access to the flightdeck. Once the terrorist is on the flightdeck he or she will probably require some form of personal weapon to take control.
X-ray and other form of pre-departure screening should ensure that bombs, rifles, guns, grenades etc do not make it onboard the passenger or freight compartment. Ensuring that small blades, shards of glass, garrotte wire etc do not make it into the passenger compartment is almost impossible.
If we accept that a motivated assailant could use hundreds of potential weapons that are readily available on an aeroplane then we must accept that our aeroplanes are vulnerable. They are vulnerable because potential attackers can gain access to the flightdeck.
We should ensure that the flightdeck is a sterile environment. The door should be locked throughout the flight. The door should be secure enough to prevent unauthorised access. Rest areas should be available within the secure flightdeck area for cruise pilots.
If a potential adversary cannot smuggle weaponry onboard to destroy the aircraft, nor take control of the aeroplane due to a lack of access, attacks of the type seen recently will not occur again.
In short, lock a secure flightdeck door for the duration of the flight and never open it, irrespective of what is occurring on the other side.
Comments?