Just as an FYI, decompression is not necessarily the greatest risk to using
a firearm on an aircraft. Ricochets and damage to critical flight avionics
is as much or more of a threat.
I spent a number of years as an Airborne Communicator on the E4-B aircraft
out of Offutt AFB, NE. These were converted Boeing 747s designed to serve as
a flying NORAD (these were the "Domesday Aircraft" which made news in the
early 90s). Most of our communication equipment (and there was a lot of it)
were in the "lobes" which are used as the lower luggage cargo areas of
commercial 747s. The large cargo doors did not have a tight seal. In fact,
you could push a pencil through some of the gaps with little or no trouble.
You could hold your hand several inches away from these and feel the air
moving out. In our version of the plane, these lobes were not closed off
from the main deck, but rather accessible via an open stair, and we would
constantly be moving between decks making changes, loading data, and working
on equipment. In fact, on some of our long (12-20 hour) flights, "smokers"
would sneak down and hide near one of these doors for a nic-fix (yes, they
looked as pathetic as that sounds).
As long as the amount of air being lost is not significantly greater than
the air coming in, you will retain pressure. A bullet, or even several
bullets, going through the skin of an aircraft will have little effect. The
threat of a bullet causing dangerous decompression is mostly that it will
puncture a weak point, such as a window. If a window blows, especially a
large one in the cockpit, that WILL cause explosive decompression.
I completely agree, still, that commercial airline flight crew should have
access to stun guns. These are great for the close quarters of a cockpit. It
should also not be forgotten that at the altitude these planes fly the
flight crew could easily and safely decompress the main deck of the plane.
While they remain on oxygen, everyone else on the plane will slip quickly
into hypoxia and be incapacitated. I have been through this several times in
simulators and have not seen anyone remain functional beyond about a minute.
In an event such as our recent ones where hostages were being injured /
killed as a lure to allow access to the cabin, the flight crew could have
gone on O2 and did a smooth, silent, decompression. Naturally, hind sight
is 20/20, and none of us (myself included) knows exactly what happened up
there. However, I do personally feel our civilian flight crew should have
the same degree of security training and the same mindset as our military
pilots. My prayers however are that we never again see an opportunity to put
any of this to test.
End of Rant.
Lawrence Tilly
-----Original Message-----
From: Taylor, Chris [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001 2:21 PM
To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
Cc: GNHLUG
Subject: RE: Home again, and a glimpse of the future
>From what I heard last week, there has been talk of issuing using stun guns
to pilots too. Of course nothing is solid yet as the details have not yet
been decided.
- Chris
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