Will it be possible to hijack a plane in the U.S. after 9/11?

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by BeBro
BTW, to lower the risk I think every plane should carry only one passenger. It would be much easier to control him

Yes, tickets will be what? $35,000? $50,000? Damn it.. everybody should just buy their own planes...

[DRoseDARs]

Actually, they can buy their own planes for $1,000,000 USD that double as...wait for it...street-legal automobiles! Sorry, don't have the link but some company is actually making "flying cars" commercially available, or at least plan to make them available if the FAA clears it. Obviously, these things would only be allowed airborne at airports and flown by certified pilots...but still pretty damn cool.

[Giancarlo]

Okay.. where the hell is my dad's credit card...

[DRoseDARs]

Maxed-out already if you're lucky...belated birthday present perhaps?

[DRoseDARs]

Getting back on-topic, though, I imagine the FAA would be a little hesitant to approve of such vehicles. If would-be highjackers can't get their hands on large commercial airliners within US borders, then lighter aircraft would be their next obvious choice. Normal aircraft ain't cheap, and terrorists aren't exactly hesitant to ignore inconvenient aviation regulations. There would be little stopping terrorists from getting the aircars airborne outside of airports per FAA regulations. These things are specifically designed to be functional on existing roads. With wings folded, they'll fit inside regular parking, inside traffic lanes, and speed along with the flow of traffic. Yes, yes, it would be hard for terrorists NOT to draw attention to themselves driving one of these things around, but still the concern will be addressed.

[Chemical Ollie]

It's not possible to hijack a plane with a nail cutter. The moment of surprise is gone and passengers will resist feriously. Therefore I demand to be allowed to bring my Leatherman, as in the good old days! A whiskey bottle from the tax-free shop or a pencil could easily be used to kill somebody for a terrorist without remorse, so why allow that but forbid small metal objects.

If I had a bunch of volounteering suicide bombers, I would give them a custom-made hand grenade each. Liquid explosives could be hidden inside spray or perfume bottles, while the detonators could be disguised inside ball-tip pens. Then the grenade could be assembled in the lavatory and detonated at will.

Just imagine the shock to the world if they sent out 100 guys with such hidden bombs (which can't be that hard to produce for someone skilled in the art). Let's say they had orders to blow a plane out of the air at a certain hour at a certain day. A skilled security control could probably find some of the bombs, with chemical sniffers or whatever, but many would also pass the net. If only 10-20% of them were successful, that would be 10-20 plane chrashes in one day. All air companies would go bankrupt.

[gopher]

Perhaps, but I think that no pilot will ever open the cockpit door under duress. Why would they let a terrorist take control of a plane, now that the planes themselfs can be the weapon? Better to not let them in, and take it from there than let them, and possible condemn yourselfs and many more.

[Proteus_MST]

Originally posted by gopher
Perhaps, but I think that no pilot will ever open the cockpit door under duress. Why would they let a terrorist take control of a plane, now that the planes themselfs can be the weapon? Better to not let them in, and take it from there than let them, and possible condemn yourselfs and many more.

Because they fear more that a Terrorist ignites a Bomb within the Passenger Cabin if they threaten to do it if he doesn´t open the door to the Cockpit (which I think would also destroy the Plane, if properly positioned) and he hopes, that it just are conventional hijackers which don´t intend to fly the Plane into certain Buildings and so hopes to save all passengers and himself by complying with the Demands of the Hijackers.

But I have to admit that, at least if the Plane flies above american soil, there will be a certain fear, that it aren´t conventional hijackers, but terrorists, and so many Pilots would refuse to open the door.

[Solver]

That's quite a question of a specific person, is it not, about opening the door? I think that many pilots would ignore their orders and open the cockpit door as long as they have any hope that those are "conventional" hijackers... and a pilot can never be sure if they are or are not.

Of course, it's far batter to let the terrorists blow the plane up than let them crash it into a building... but how many pilots would be brave enough to refuse to give in?

By the way, what about allowing pilots to carry guns - small pistols? Then noone with a knive or something like that would be able to hijack the plane.

[Sandman]

The terrorists could just buy a private business jet and load it with explosives. If they were technically skilled (which they are not), they could equip it with anti-missile systems as well.

[Giancarlo]

That is why the Air National Guard and Air Force need to be on constant patrol, Sandman. There was an incident where a prop-plane I think got too close to the president's motorcade. It was intercepted.

[CerberusIV]

It is a question of determination. If someone really wants to hijack a plane and is sufficiently well resourced then they will manage it. The challenge is to make it so difficult it doesn't happen very often.

As for opening the cockpit door under duress I don't think a pilot would do it. Anyone who wants to do a "conventional" hijacking won't destroy the plane, they just want it flown to an airport somewhere and landed and the pilot can do that anyway. Anyone who will blow the plane up wants to crash it into a building and kill everyone on board and other people on the ground. Better to refuse and fewer people will die.

[DAVOUT]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse

I doubt that'll be possible now...

Hopefully they will see that you are not 5 ...

[DaShi]

It's just a distraction from their next target: trains. Yes, they plane to crash a train into the White House. I've noticed that the tracks are moving a little closer everyday.

[Pekka]

Of course it is possible to hijack the plane. To say it's not even possible is dangerous IMO, and gives the feeling of faulse security, and that leads to security problems IMO.

I think it is very possible to hijack it no problem. THe problem is that flight attendants, passengers and pilots are all humans. We can not predict how they will react to the situation, not even with training. There are some things that can be exploited I think.

Anything is possible.