UAL Attempted Hijack
 

Apparently a United Airlines flight between Miami and Buenos Aires had an attempted hijack today. But crew have subdued hijacker(s).

Just checked <a href="http://www.skynews.co.uk" target="_blank">www.skynews.co.uk</a>. .Plane was operating from San Francisco via Miami. Man apparently tried to storm cockpit but crew have foiled his attempts!

Well done to crew and/or passengers <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

BUDGIE

[ 07 February 2002: Message edited by: BUDGIE ]</p>

<a href="http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgiT=marketsquote99_news.ht&s=APGKf6BY.VW5pdGVk" target="_blank">http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgiT=marketsquote99_news.ht&s=APGKf6BY.VW5pdGVk</a> is a link to a Bloomberg story.

Hitting him over the hard with the fire axe: Good effort.

SHlT I bet that hurt! :)

[ 07 February 2002: Message edited by: BUDGIE ]</p>

I hope they didn't damage the axe!

This story. .<a href="http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=07022002-111559-8241r" target="_blank">http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=07022002-111559-8241r</a>. .says that the FO hit him "bluntly" ...

From CNN:. ."The cockpit door is divided into two sections, and the lower section actually opens up ... and he had actually inserted himself, his torso into the cockpit," Boyer said. He said he and other passengers jumped on the man, and the plane's co-pilot then hit the man "bluntly on the head" with the ax. . ."This led to a lot of blood all over the place," Boyer said. He said the man then was dragged out of the cockpit and restrained.'. .Good work!. . <img src="eek.gif" border="0">

[ 07 February 2002: Message edited by: tom775257 ]</p>

I suppose the crew will get sued for using the fire axe on a passenger! The flight deck door must have been locked, does anyone know if it was one of the new super-reinforced doors supposed to be able to keep these types out?

CNN is reporting this morning that, the door was opened by the F/O, he leaned out and popped the badguy with the axe. The blow to the head resulted in a large amount of blood in the cabin.. .The pax had to drag him back to a seat and belted him in until the plane landed in EZE. :)

Well Done to the crew involved and to the passengers who im sure made it unwise for him to move! <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

. ."go ahead...Make my day"

<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1807000/1807216.stm" target="_blank">BBC News</a> suggests that the situation was rather different (and reflects rather less well on the crew). Apparently the passenger banged on the door, and one of the pilots opened it "thinking it was one of the crew". The passenger then forced his way in and started punching both pilots until one of them did the fire axe thing.. .What use is it busting a bloodvessel to put reinforced doors in a/c if the pilots are just going to open them to every random nutter who knocks? And on United of all airlines!. .On the other hand, CNN says the pilots didn't open the door to him - he forced his way in. Through a reinforced door. Clearly "reinforced" in United's world means something different from the conventional definition. This reflects better on the pilots but worse on the door.. . If he'd had, say, a broken bottle, we could be looking at 157 Dead In United Crash. Can you still buy duty free liquor in glass bottles and take it on in carryon bags? Sure you can.. .Also, note that the passenger quoted seems to have done nothing at all until the guy was inside the cockpit and (presumably) attacking the pilots. Hope no one out there is counting on pax to protect them from hijackers - because they won't.

BBC claim captain "foolishly" opened the door thinking it was a member of crew that needed to enter urgently.

The report that the crew opened the door is completely incorrect. He partially entered throught the bottom. He was greeted by a cockpit crewmember who used the fire ax to limit his desire & ability to enter further. He was dragged back by cabin crewmembers and passengers. Great response by all concerned - screw the BBC report - they are simply cutting and pasting other reports (the usual early and inaccurate ones) without verification.

OH

Why didn't the crew just use their nailfiles and Swiss Army knives.

They are lethal, aren't they?

UA press release says the door was the 'barred' type, not the full attack-resistant model. CNN identifies the pax as a Uruguayan banker, but they probably spelt it wrong.

I hope the B****r finished his flight tied into a centre seat ahead of an exit row. There is no worse fate.

Why didn't the FO hit him with the sharp end of the axe instead and put him out of his misery for good? I certainly would have!

DO NOT use the sharp end of the axe as it will stick in whatever it hits -- fine if you just made a perfect strike on a solitary bad guy that instantly dispatches him to Allah.

Not so good if you get it stuck elsewhere and you have to wrench it out while bad guy #2 is doing a number on you or others.

Serious neurological damage will be inflicted with one good whack on the head from the blunt end and does not require anywhere the same degree of skill as using the sharp end -- don't use the sharp end unless you've recently done a couple cords of wood.

Well, at least the publicity of the fact that any a***hole trying to make it into the cockpit is likely to get stunned by an axe will make some people think twice. Should make the crews' job against standard "air ragers" easier.

As I recall a couple of months ago, there were quite a few English and European gentlemen on this board that were offended at the suggestion that cockpits be defended with a crash axe. Something about being too cowardly to actually use it on someone.

This South American idiot/hijacker/terrorist (your choice) is lucky they didn't take three morticians to pull it out of his forehead. Seems like most of the people causing mayhem and causing Americans to spend BILLIONS of dollars in security, and scaring the bejeezus out of us have either Saudi, Yemeni, French, UK, and now Uruguay passports.