PPRUNE RADAR
i agree that adding to the aircraft weight reduces the amount of passengers but one could always lose the gained weight say in the cargo area....and reduce the weight in checked luggage rather than changing the number of seats.....more than one way to skin a cat....don't just jump at the passenger loads...having been to Boeing in Seattle and seen how they put together an aircraft there are many ways to combat the fact that there is a steel door at the cockpit.
BMpilot 21
Yes what you say is true could you actually stay inside the cockpit and risk having the whole cabin killed a tough decision but now with this whole new situation i say that it would be hard thing to do but rather than have your aircraft crash into a city,building such as the WTC then,yes I WOULD land first and try and avoid something like what we have seein on Tuesday.
I was flying that same hour and my collegues discussed this very situation once on the ground in Miami...
If there is a likely hood that the terrorist could fly the plane and from now on i don't think we can discount this fact, then i would try to stay in command of the aircraft as long as i could and avoid such a tragedy...
Yes yes i know in the past we have been trained to do as they say but can we believe this now in the shadow of WTC....don't think so......
That's my personal opinion.....i had relatives staying in the hotel in WTC who luckily checked out at 745am that morning and i certainly wouldn't have wanted to met them there that day in my aircraft....
My thoughts are with the people in NYC and WAS...and hope that the cowardly terrorists are brought to justice.....