What would you do if your flight was hijacked by terrorists?

[CoffeeCat]

I just watched, "The Flight That Fought Back" on the Discovery Channel.

Did anyone else see this program? It depicted the story of the passengers on Flight 93, the plane that crashed in PA on 9/11. The storyline was based on many cell phone conversations, flight recordings and information presented by friends and loved ones who spoke with the passengers on the flight.

I wondered what I would do--if I was on a plane that was being hijacked by terrorists.

My husband and I were discussing this, and he said, "That's why there will never be another 9/11. If there was a next time, Americans would fight back, because they would know what was happening this time.

Have you ever thought about what you would do?

Did anyone else see "The Flight That Fought Back" and did you have any reactions to it?

I was very saddened. It was gut wrenching to listen to all of those cell phone calls.

[thebigidea]

1. The Flight that Was Ordered Shot Down by Cheney and Milked for Propaganda

coming soon to TBS!

Ever since it went down, I've thought they did it. And if they didn't, why the fuck not? It would've been even more incredible incompetence and could've cost even more lives.

[CoffeeCat]

11. I remember hearing people discuss that on DU...

...that the flight was shot down.

I was watching and talking with my husband at the same time, so I did not see every nuance on the show.

However, there were many recorded cell phone conversations that detail many things that happened--including the passengers who conspired to storm the cockpit with the beverage cart.

You can hear the beverage cart repeatedly hitting the cockpit door, toward the very end of the flight.

I'm not saying the "Cheney-had-it-shot-down" theory is incorrect. I wouldn't be surprised.

In the movie, the other planes had crashed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon--and this flight was obviously hijacked and moving toward DC. It was 15 minutes from DC when it crashed.

[flyarm]

52. there are many questions about that beverage cart stuff...

from those who heard the tapes...there was alot of questions about a beverage cart hitting the cockpit door..i assure you if a beverage cart were used it would have gotten through the door immedately..the cart is very heavy if full...but the questions are that it was the stuff in the galley right next to cockpit door..crashing and glass crashing in the galley..it is obvious the galley was not secured...so all sorts of stuff would go flying around...and the glass at the kind of altitude and attitude of the aircraft would have made the stuff in the galley wither crash in the galley or in the inner carts that were secured in the galley...

from much i have read that sounds more feasible to me...

and an engine was found between 6-8 miles prior to the crash site..well this i can assure you of...

none of those passengers climbed out on the wings and knocked the engine off ...

and if you look up the crash of egypt air..out of nyc..you will see unless an engine is turned off or made inoperable..its highly unlikely that 757 or a 767 could crash in the manner that that aircraft crashed...the computers on the plane wouldn't allow it..unless an engine was disengaged!

from a 33 yr flight attendant of one of the airlines involved in 9/11

fly

[Bluebear]

2. I didn't even know cell phones worked at 35,000 feet.

Go figure!

[Coastie for Truth]

6. They do

You need "line of sight" to a repeater tower.

[Bluebear]

8. Barbara Olson, the Pa. flight...

must all have had line of sight to a repeater tower. What luck!

[MercutioATC]

14. From 35,000 feet, line of sight is pretty easy to establish...

:eyes:

[Ravy]

29. Line of sight is not the whole story.

See my post below.

[MercutioATC]

38. Of course not. I was responding to Bluebear

who seemed to find it difficult to believe that line of sight could be maintained by an airplane at altitude.

(BTW, I've gotten 3 bars on my phone at 29,000 feet. Didn't try to make a call, though...)

[Ravy]

39. You probably have LOS to hundreds of towers...

And I am not saying it is *not* possible to get a signal up there, but to keep it long enough to have a conversation would be problematic. I didn't mean to pick on your post, I responded to several.

I have never gotten a signal up high, but I don't sit there and watch it, so I don't doubt that you did. I just remember and reach into the overhead to see if I remembered to turn it off. On every occasion that has happened, it has been no signal.

I know that I am not the only one that has forgotten to turn off the darn things, but I have yet to hear a phone ring while at cruising altitude, but I have heard phones ring dozens of times on descent prior to landing.

LOS is just not a good measure of whether or not you are going to get reception. I have had reception, as I am sure many have, inside of a computer frame room, with no windows, so LOS is definitely not required. I have also been close to cell towers but been inside of a structure and not gotten a signal. There are lots of factors, but the main one for airplanes is the fact that antennas on the towers are designed to project the signal in a geometric plane parallel to the ground. Of course, they are not perfect at that and some signal does go into the air, but not enough for reliable communication from a commercial airplane at cruising altitude.

They are trying to introduce cellular service onto planes (I rue THAT day), but each plane will carry its own base which will function as the cell tower. Even then, they are planning on projecting those signals through satellites to connect to the ground.

[Ravy]

28. Not correct.

They *may* work, but I have never seen mine (I check sometimes midflight if I forget to turn it off). Always have seen "No signal".

The reason for this is that the antennas on cell phone towers, and commercial radio and TV for that matter is designed to project in a flat pancake-like pattern to be more efficient.

I won't say it isn't *possible*, but I find it very unlikely. The closer to the ground you are, the more likely you are to have signal.

[TheWraith]

41. Some towers are, some aren't.

Some towers are built using omnidirectional antennas, which throw a signal up in addition to a 360 degree circle. It depends on the tower, the builders, and a lot of other things.

[Ravy]

42. What I was describing is an omnidirectional antenna.

To build an antenna that would do as you suggest, project in a hemisphere, would be difficult and expensive, I believe. Not only that, for the added cost of building such an antenna, a good portion of the energy from your signal would be lost by being projected to a place where you don't want it. An omnidirectional ground plane antenna is just a vertical rod (powered) and some sort of grounding system.

Here is some reading material:

http://www.physics911.net/cellphoneairliners.htm

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO408B.html

[TheWraith]

59. Not so.

An omnidirectional antenna (at least in the frequency ranges used by phones) does project signal up and down as well as to all sides. That's how you can have a wireless router on one floor of your house and still get a signal from the other floor. The signal pattern isn't as even as it is around the sides, but it does exist. Those towers that only project to the sides are built with panel or sector antennas, which project their signal in one specific direction.

[Ravy]

69. We will have to agree to disagree.

No antenna is perfectly efficient, so of course it projects *some* up and down. Commercial antennas will be better at eliminating this than a low cost consumer router.

I provided links to back up my point about altitude, and the links also mention speed, which is another major factor I was unaware of prior to looking for backup for my argument. I used to design different antennas for my Amateur Radio hobby.

I just know from my experience that omnidirectional antennas are designed to transmit in a 360 degree radius on a geometric plane, not in a sphere. These are design tendencies. The better the antenna, the flatter the plane. Since the flattness of the geometric plane will enhance the range of the signal along that plane, I bet that the commercial companies use pretty good antennas for it.

[flyarm]

55. as a flt crew ..i have used mine at 36,000 ft...but not good reception

and its sporatic...sometimes it might work and other times, nothing at all...

but between 14,000 and 20,000 many times it works...

fly

[Coastie for Truth]

56. Got a transmission at 18K feet

--was on a 757 that had an in flight emergency several weeks after 9/11 - smoke in the cockpit. (with several "foreign looking passengers). I cell phoned my wife in K6-W6 land from K3-N3 skies.

When I have taken a cell phone aprt - looks like a low end single band fokded dipole "rubber ducky." Like a "FRS" or "GMRS" radio.

[flyarm]

54. sometimes they do and sometimes they don't...

there is no guarentee that they will or won't work...

they are more likely to work at 14,000 ft than 35,000ft

fly

[progressivebydesign]

3. I would absolutely kill the mofos with my bare hands if necesary.

I am a small, peaceful, person, BUT.. if it meant the survival of myself and everyone on the plane, damn straight we'd tear them to shreds with everything we have. There was a sense that hijackings, before 9/11, were relatively non-violent, but you're right.. that attitude has changed.

I honestly dont' watch things like the show you describe.. why would I? Why would I want to be entertained by such tragedy?

[CoffeeCat]

23. I hear you...

...about not wanting to watch such a tragic show.

I was flipping channels and I started watching it in the middle. They showed a few of the passengers being heroes. It was quite sobering. I wouldn't say I was "entertained."

I feel that I gained an appreciation for the people on that flight and their brave actions.

However, some say the entire story of Flight 93 is a fabrication...so who knows.

[shraby]

4. I thought cell phones wouldn't work on planes.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Coastie for Truth]

10. They do-

you need "line of sight" to repeater tower. No problem at 35,000 feet.

The issue is that the 900 megahertz cell phone signal may interfere with the 108-128 megahertz aviation radio signals.

[Dunedain]

36. No you don't need a line of sight

Cell phones use rf energy. It's all wattage, frequency, and wavelength.
I think the only reason they don't use them on airplanes is that the software that handles the cell negotiation can't do it when the phone is approaching the cell grid from 35,000 feet above it. The software is expecting you to see one cell, and then two cells as you reach the overlap or hand-off point.

[TheWraith]

40. You don't NEED line-of-sight

But with virtually any radio communication, particularly in the higher frequencies, LOS helps considerably. A signal which might only get 1 mile through buildings, trees, whatever is along the ground, could probably get a mile and a half through clear air.

Handoff issues are one reason not to use phones on a flight. Another is that it can mess with the radio systems of the plane, and cause interference.

[Coastie for Truth]

51. I was trying to simplify it - but if you want the bells and whistles --->

1. Basic Radio - Understanding the Key Building Blocks--
<>

2. The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications
<>

3. The ARRL Antenna Book
<>

4. The ARRL Operating Handbook for Radio Amateurs
<>

5. Wes Hayward, Intro to Radio Frequency Design
<>

6. Griffith, Radio Electronic Transmission principles
<>

7. Balanis, Antenna Theory
<http://images.amazon.com/images/P/047166782X.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg>

8. Kraus, Antennas
<>

I say "Line of sight" at 800-1000 ghz (with some fudging at the boundaries of Maxwell's Equations and the ionosphere effects)


Amateur Extra Class
ARRL Volunteer Amateur Linces Examiner




<><><>

[Ravy]

30. Depends on lots of things, but generally you are correct. (n/t)

[NMMNG]

5. Get a group of passengers to help me take down the hijackers

There would be far more passengers than hijackers, so if only a small group of passengers got together we could outnumber the hijackers. Particularly if they were planning a suidice mission, there would be nothing to lose. Ultimately, we might save thousands of lives by keeping them from crashing the plane into a building or heavily populated area.

[FreedomAngel82]

12. That's true

There wasn't enough time to try to get the plane to go another direction? :shrug: Oh and I love your little veggie icon. It's so cute (even though I still love meat).

[NMMNG]

27. With flight 93 they steered it into an empty field

Which is what I'd try to do if I were in the same situation.

[bullimiami]

7. if it was the morning of sept 11 2001.

and our government already KNEW that planes were likely to be hijacked and flown into buildings on suicide missions but didnt tell anyone, not the faa, not the pilots, not the public, NO-ONE, so we ALL KNEW the thing to do is cooperate with hijackers like we had always been told to and done in the past. we would of course, cooperate, trusting in our government and law enforcement agencies to take care of us. but they would not.

[Psephos]

66. "trusting our government and law enforcement agencies to take care of us"

There's the problem, plain and simple.

I don't know how this poisonous mentality ever took hold, but history and biology are both unequivocal: trusting someone else to take care of you makes you a candidate for a Darwin award.

Think about the last time you went to get your driver's license renewed, and then ask yourself if you really want to trust that kind of system, with all its bureaucratic infighting, disincentives to efficiency, and institutionalized "caring" to see after your best interests. If Katrina didn't disabuse people of the idea that the cavalry is just over the hill, then I don't know what else to say.

Peace.

[Sapphocrat]

78. Here's a weird thought I've always had...

O.T., but you reminded me of it (re who knew, who didn't, and what if the passengers themselves had?):

If any of the flights had been JetBlue, someone on board would have known about the three previous hijackings. JetBlue has individual Dish TV TV's for each seat.

Don't mind me -- it's late and my mind is wandering.

But I've always felt better (if no safer) flying JetBlue; if my flight were ever hijacked, I'd know what was going on outside thanks to (barf!) CNN.

Had Flight 93 the same, the passengers would have known even sooner they'd had nothing to lose.

[FreedomAngel82]

9. I'd probably pass out

Heh. :blush: And I've read those phone calls were phoney. :shrug: (reopen911.org is the source)

[CoffeeCat]

20. The phone calls...

...seemed to be recorded.

Some of them were made with the phones on the plane--the ones in the seats.

Also--there were dozens of friends/family members who spoke with the passengers, who were interviewed. They recalled their conversations.

It's possible that the phone calls were real--and also that the flight was shot down.

I suppose both could have happened.

Like a previous poster said---it would be unusual if it hadn't been shot down. The flight was headed straight for DC--and it was 15 mins away from the White House.

Three planes had all ready hit targets--and it wouldn't be shocking to learn that 93 had been shot down.

[yurbud]

13. there was an example with he shoe bomber

he tried to light his shoe and everyone jumped on top of him and held him down until the end of the flight.

Your husband is right. People would take a bullet before going along with another hijacking now.

[Bluebear]

17. The flight attendants first noticed his behavior...

now they are being replaced by outsourced flight attendants from India and China. This is how we honor our heroes.

[FreedomAngel82]

18. Seriously?

Go figure! Are they planning another attack or what?!

[leftofthedial]

15. Well, I wouldn't fight them off with my trusty nail file, that's for sure

not anymore

[Freedomfried]

16. I'd blame Bill Clinton

why not?

[Coastie for Truth]

19. Last week of Officer Candidate School (VietNam era)

we had several days of "Escape and Evasion" school - how to survive becoming a POW.

I made up my mind then - "they" would never take me alive (and the last grenade would be for me and my captors :nuke: ).

I would try to be effective without being stupid or counterproductive.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

21. Southwest Airlines had a guy act crazy post 9-11

The passengers jumped him and beat him senseless.

I don't think we'll be willing to be passive participants in any future hijack attempts. We've each had enough time to ask ourselves "What would I do if --" It won't be a surprise next time.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. For real?

They did that? Do you know why?

[Enraged_Ape]

46. Yep, it's true. I actually think that's happened a couple of times.

I think it's pretty beat into all our heads that if the plane you're on gets hijacked, you're as good as dead. Since 9/11, I think people will now naturally revert to their instinctive "attacked by saber-toothed tiger" mode--which pretty much consists of fighting and fighting and fighting with any and all weapons available until the attacker stops moving and/or breathing.

[pitohui]

49. yeah but it's simmered down now

it happened several times in the weeks post 911 and post shoe bomber, however, people are now realizing that facing federal felony charges for stomping on some sloppy drunk ain't worth the trouble

when someone is being obnoxious on a flight these days, it's back to business as usual, you assume they're a crazy or a drunk, and you stand back and leave it to the flight attendant to deal with, sometimes there's a marshall on board but i've never actually seen the marshall do anything much, it seems it's always up to the FA to put on her kindergarten teacher voice and say, sir, i'm going to have to ask you to sit down right now, sir!

[MarsThe Cat]

24. i had two friends that were flying back to chicago from los angeles...

this was a couple years before 9/11- my friend had gone out to be on "wheel of fortune", (i had to meet them at the airport to pick them up, and tell them that i had totalled their car while they were gone, but that's another story) but on their return, they were bumped and put on another flight- but it wasn't a regularly scheduled flight- they were re-positioning aircraft and/or crew, and my friend and his wife ended up being the only two passengers on the plane- a full-size passenger jet. there were 4(maybe 6?) flight attendants, the flight crew, and my friends.
I don't know if such a scenario would still be possible- in the era of uber-security, but it's about the only scenario(if my friends happened to be terrorists- which they aren't) under which i could see a hijacker being able to come close to a successful hijacking- if there were no other passengers to stop them.

i think that hijackings are now a thing of the past- but just in case, i think that we should follow archie bunker's advice, and hand out a gun to every passenger...just in case.

[HawkerHurricane]

25. The Paradigm has shifted.

Old Paradigm: Your best chance of survival is to cooperate, don't make waves, and wait until the negotiated release.

New Paradigm: You're dead unless you recover control of the plane. If you don't make the attempt, not only are you dead, but so are thousands of people on the ground.

Under the New Paradigm, a hijacking is impossible: the passengers won't stand for it. Unless you can get more hijackers on the plane than there are passengers...

[Psephos]

33. This paradigm shift speaks to more than just planes and hijackings n/t

[The Animator]

26. Although the prospect of putting foot to ass would certainly be appealing.

I think everyone might be better served if I made my way to the cockpit to land the plane. I'm not an experienced pilot, but I've spent enough time playing flight sim games to be comfortable with taking the plane down for an emergency landing. Course, knowing myself rather well and all, I probably would be able to resist puting the plane through some stunt manuvers before setting her down though. Would be interesting to see the news caster scratching there heads over this one...

"Inexplicably, before putting plane down for an emergency landing, the pilot of the previously hijacked Boeing 747, has decided to execute a series of gut wrenching barrel rolls and at least one Immelmen loop... This just in the unidentified pilot has contacted the control tower... something about a flyby?..."

Then we would all be greeted as heros, well except for the terrorist of course... then we'd get medals from George W. Bush, and when it was my turn, live on national TV, I'd deck him...

[Make7]

31. I think everyone might be better served if they beat you senseless. nt.

[Hippo_Tron]

65. LMAO, that would be awesome

[MrSlayer]

32. I always make sure I have two sharp pencils with me.

I will not hesitate to stick one in someone's neck if they try anything.

[WinkyDink]

34. It depicted the story of the passengers on Flight 93

The key word here is "depicted".

There is no evidence that anything "depicted" about Flight 93 is the truth, including the non-sworn testimony of people who say they heard cell-phone calls.

I certainly don't believe Ted Olson about his wife's plane.

[Savannah Progressive]

57. I wish you had seen the movie put forth by the Discovery Channel

It included interviews, and cockpit voice recordings. Now, I am not past the point where I believe the Government could organize a huge conspiracy involving not only Government agents, but civillians from all over the nation. However the movements of Flight 93 were re-constructed using the best information available, including Black Box data and cockpit voice recordings.

Scepticisim is certainly useful, I use it often. However one must learn to reign it in when faced with factual evidence concerning an event.

I saw the movie, and was so moved by it I bought it from Discovery so I could witness what we have all always known. Regular people, when faced with an impossible situation, rise to the occasion. Hero's aren't born, they aren't trained, they just are regular people in abnormal situations. The story could be about the rescuers of 9-11, people working to save a stranger after an earthquake, Post Katrina New Orleans, or any other event in history.

I detest Ted Olsens politics, however even I don't think that all Repugniks lie automatically. Air Phones have been installed in aircraft for how long? Put a credit card in the slot, and make your phone calls. When the people say "cell phones" could they mean "air phones" and how often do we all use improper terminalology for an item?

[Yupster]

75. There is tons of evidence

that what was depicted is true.

It starts with interviews with people who spoke to the people on board. The hijacking pilot also didn't know he was speaking to people on the ground when he was speaking to the passengers and terrorists on the plane.

It may be evidence that you or a jury would reject, but it is certainly evidence.

[dogfacedboy]

35. I would go completely bat shit on the terrorists.

First of all, if it was attempted again, they would only be armed if the weapons were planted on the plane ahead of time. Unlikely, these days. There's no way I would avoid taking action. And pity the poor terrorist I got my hands on, because that son of a bitch would pay for EVERY innocent life lost on 9/11, in Afghanistan, and in Iraq.
I'm talking about going cannibal on the maggot. Removing facial flesh with my teeth while choking the life out of him/her.

[RamboLiberal]

43. I don't think it's so unlikely that weapons can be gotten on planes

I have no faith that security at the airports is all that great.

I think that the access of personnel to the planes is not that secure and that weapons could be pre-positioned on the planes.

And I have no real faith in the TSA security at the airports. I think it's more show than substance. I'd bet it would not be too hard to sneak edged weapons and especially pepper spray aboard planes if one knew how to disguise the items in your carry on or on your person. Be real easy to bring a ceramic or plastic knife aboard (and by plastic I'm talking about something like the CIA letter opener).

CIA Letter Opener, non metallic knife
The CIA Letter Opener is non-metallic knife made of a resin/nylon mixture which makes it very tough and stiff. It does not bend easily and can be pounded through plywoood. It's also sharper than I expected. Overall length is 8 inches, the blade is 4 inches.
Waterproof, won't rust, keep one in your car, backpack, or stash it anywhere. There is hole on the end of the handle to string a lanyard if you wish. This non metal knife is very light, weighs about an ounce. Really does a number on those envelopes.

And getting back to the topic, yeah I'd be among the passengers who would choose to fight my ass off.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

37. I would assert myself and ask them if they thought they might have

self-esteem issues. I would suggest to them a class in communication skills so they could better explain their issues. And of course a 12-step program to deal with anger management. Also suggest to them that here are many resources to deal with their internal conflict and one method is deep breathing excercises ...........

:rofl:

[Mr.Green93]

44. Start a dialog and let them air their grievances

assure them that negotiation and accommodation can help them reach a peaceful solution.

[Crazy Guggenheim]

60. Thank you for sharing that with us ........

:popcorn:

[wellst0nev0ter]

45. Wish More Planes Would Have Reinforced Cockpit Doors

That only open on the inside.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

50. They do. Required after 9/11.

[Yupster]

76. The documentary said

that the cockpit had been warned that there were hijackings taking place on other planes.

The pilots asked for a repeat of the message and it was sent to them again.

It doesn't look like they did anything with the information though.

[Lefty48197]

47. I would hit them with a 240 lb hammer

and find out just what they're made of.

[pitohui]

48. i saw that program, it was obviously a fictional re-creation

as far as what i would do if my flight was hijacked, i'm afraid i already know

i was on a flight on halloween in the early 1980s on an airline well-known for its sense of humor, a few minutes after we reached elevation, a couple guys in nixon masks and camouflage came out waving rifles and announcing the plane was hijacked to cuba

no one did anything except look at ea. other and silently ask, who are they kidding?

yeah, it was a bad joke in bad taste by the flight attendants, which prob. wouldn't be duplicated today, but it really showed me what most of us do in a crisis -- we freeze up and do nothing because we don't know if it's real or if we're being punk'd

i've now read the entire thread and while it's clear that most DUers have an active fantasy life, i'm satisfied that none of you have been in the situation, the reality is that you are not going to go hannibal lector on the terrorist and eat his face, you're just going to be the first shot, stabbed, or blown up if you bother to make yourself stand out at all, and the dude who thinks he can pilot the plane because he's played a lot of video games, christ, i'll take my chances w. joe hijacker, despite our fantasies that all hijackers are about the politics, if not for good airport security, you'd be having the extortionist economic hijackers coming out of our ears just like we did in the 70s...

to assume every hijacker is a suicide bomber is easy to say in advance, but when you're in the situation, you'll have to make a judgement then on the motives, if they're financial, you would want to go along to get along, if they're really a planned suicide attack, okay, that's a different matter

[against all enemies]

53. I'd attack some ethnic group on the plane I didn't like.

It's the Republican thing to do.

[DS1]

58. Live, or die fighting

Those are the only two options I can see.

[WilliamPitt]

61. I'd take my belt off and attach my keys to the buckle

Instant weapon.

[neebob]

62. Probably sit and fantasize about getting a bunch of people together

and clunking them on the head with laptops and stabbing them with pencils and stuff, maybe throw some matches at them and hope it doesn't set the whole plane on fire.

[Cleita]

63. Probably pee in my pants if not worse.

Fear of imminent death seems to overide any rational thoughts of defending myself. Anyway that's how it works for me, having once been on a plane that was about to crash. Heroic efforts by the crew brought it in with a very rough but safe landing. Some people threw up as well.

I think it's heroic that people could have functioned as well as they did in the face of the threat of death.

[Hippo_Tron]

64. The situation in Delta Force 1 really bothered me

Clearly there were three well trained military guys on the plane and to begin with there were just two goofballs with guns. Clearly the people on the plane could have over-taken the two guys with no problem. However, once they landed the plane somewhere and about 20 guys got on with AK-47's, that's when it became a serious problem. Chuck Norris had to re-strategize before going in.

[uppityperson]

71. Chuck Norris can re-strategize? Good link here

http://www.4q.cc/chuck/index.php?topthirty

[Hippo_Tron]

73. LMAO funniest thing I've read all week

[uppityperson]

74. click on "random" at the bottom of the list too.

:rofl:

[Nikia]

67. Flight attendents and pilots are now taught to resist hijackers

Before 9/11, they were taught to cooperate if they were dangerous.
My sister is a flight attendent and has been instructed to guard the cockpit with her life.
Passengers should not be oblivious to the "weapons" that they usually have with them. Throwing any somewhat heavy objects including the shoes off your feet at an unsuspecting hijacker can be effective.
Unless most of the crew was involved and/ or the passengers who were hijackers exceeded 30% of the regular passengers on a normal flight , I doubt that any hijackers would be able to successfully take over.

[DanCa]

68. I wont worry about it until the times comes.

I am more worried about falling when my legs start trembeling real bad. I face a real terrorist attack on my body every day.

[FlemingsGhost]

70. To all the "heores" who think they'd kick some ass:

Puuuulll-eeeeze! You've seen too many Bruce Willis movies.

You'd piss your pants and panic like 99% of the species. (Myself included) Sure, there might be one, maybe two of you, that would actually follow through, but most of you are posturing ... and you know it.

Kudos to those who actually admit to it.

[Yupster]

77. I think that's true for a while

but after a while, the panic would change to planning and then to action.

I think that's what happened on that flight.

I think terorists would need to change their strategy too. They terrorized the passengers by killing the flight crew, but themn herded the passengers to the back and left them alone.

I think they'd be smarter next time. Keep the passengers panicked throughout the flight.

More likely they'll try something completely differnet next time. Maybe take an elementary school hostage like the Chechnyan rebels did. No security at all there and great terrorizing possibilities.

[FredScuttle]

72. I would salute our new terrorist overlords and wish them godspeed

oh yeah, Hail Ants as well

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

79. Demand a refund.