While hindsight is 20/20, I must admit
I thought, what kind of cattle were these people to be herded and bossed
around like that (on the planes) then I felt guilty because I heard they thought
one of the terrorists had a bomb on each plane. How do you know if the bomb is
real or not? Who cares? The pilot has a good point...the rules have
changed...there is every reason to now believe that you will not live if you
don't act anyway so why not go for it. It seems pretty relevent to me that
so far civilians have done more to defend our country than the government has by
the way. My opinion but the acts of bravery on the plane that crashed in PA seem
to have saved the White House. The ball is America's court and what we do next
seems to be a topic of great debate...but I doubt the public will be fooled into
being bossed around on planes anytime soon or even ever again, that is if any of
us actually get on one.
p
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN AIRLINE PILOT'S COMMON SENSE From
the Washington Times: Aboard Flight 564 Peter Hannaford Published
9/19/01
As it was at most U.S. airports, last Saturday was the first
near-normal day at Denver International since the terrorist attacks. On United's
Flight 564 the door had just been locked and the plane was about to pull out of
the gate when the captain came on the public address system.
"I
want to thank you brave folks for coming out today. We don't have any new
instructions from the federal government, so from now on we're on our
own."
The passengers listened in total silence. He explained that
airport security measures had pretty much solved the problem of firearms being
carried aboard, but not weapons of the type the terrorists apparently used,
plastic knives or those fashioned from wood or ceramics.
"Sometimes
a potential hijacker will announce that he has a bomb. There are no bombs on
this aircraft and if someone were to get up and make that claim, don't believe
him. "If someone were to stand up, brandish something such as a plastic knife
and say 'This is a hijacking' or words to that effect here is what you should
do: Every one of you should stand up and immediately throw things at that person
- pillows, books, magazines, eyeglasses, shoes -anything that will throw him off
balance and distract his attention. If he has a confederate or two, do the same
with them. Most important: get a blanket over him, then wrestle him to floor and
keep him there. We'll land the plane at the nearest airport and the authorities
will take it from there." "Remember, there will be one of him and maybe a few
confederates, but there are 200 of you. You can overwhelm them. The Declaration
of Independence says 'We, the people' and that's just what it is when we're up
in the air: we, the people, vs. would-be terrorists. I don't think we are going
to have any such problem today or tomorrow or for a while, but some time down
the road, it is going to happen again and I want you to know what to do. Now,
since we're a family for the new few hours, I'll ask you to turn to the person
next to you, introduce yourself, tell them a little about yourself and ask them
to do the same.
The end of this remarkable speech brought sustained
clapping from the passengers. He had put the matter in perspective. If only the
passengers on those ill-fated flights last Tuesday had been given the same talk,
I thought, they might be alive today.
One group on United Flight
93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field, apparently rushed the hijackers in an
attempt to wrest control from them. While they perished, they succeeded in
preventing the terrorist from attacking his intended goal, possibly the White
House or the Capitol.
Procedures for dealing with hijackers were
conceived in a time when the hijackers were usually seeking the release of
jailed comrades or a large amount of money. Mass murder was not their goal. That
short talk last Saturday by the pilot of Flight 564 should set a new standard of
realism. Every passenger should learn the simple - but potentially life-saving -
procedure he outlined. He showed his passengers that a hijacking does not have
to result in hopelessness and terror, but victory over the
perpetrators.
The Airline Pilots Association, the pilots' union,
last week dropped its opposition to stronger cockpit doors and is now calling
for retrofits. (It's opposition was based on pilot concerns about getting out
easily in emergency situations.) The scandal of easily penetrated airport
security will result in congressional calls for a federal takeover of the
security system. Previous efforts to reform security procedures and raise
standards have been talked to death. This time, however, no lobbying efforts
must be allowed to prevent airport security from getting the reforms that are
needed: federal operation, rigorous training, decent pay and no foreign
nationals eligible for employment.
Peter Hannaford is a public affairs
consultant
