OK, we all know security is tightening in the airports, but what about making safer planes?
Two ideas here, and I want to know how feasible these are?
First, separate the cockpit from the cabin area. That is, no door, or maybe just an emergency door like in the exit rows that can’t be opened in flight. The pilots would climb in from underneath or another opening, so terrorists couldn’t get in and take over the plane in mid-flight. Yes I realize the cockpit would have to made slightly larger to allow for bathrooms, etc, but that’s fine by me.
Second, if terrorists DO take a plane, why not release knockout gas into the cabin? The pilots, separated from the passengers, would then land the plane while everyone in the back was asleep. SWAT could then arrest the badguys before waking everyone up. Maybe a person or two would die from allergies or something, but it’s better than losing several hundred folks.
How viable are these?
Also – how did the terrorists get into the cabin area to begin with? I thought the door was generally locked from the inside?
They can still threaten the pilots by threatening the passengers. But what they can do is cut all communications between the 2 parts of the plane, so the hijackers would not be able to threaten the pilots directly by killing someone. And that’s how all hijackings happen.
There is no such thing as a knock-out gas that you could safely introduce into the cabin. What you could do is decompress a little and introduce very cold outside air into the cabin. It would be like being on the top of Mt. Everest without oxygen tanks or heavy clothing. I doubt if anyone would be able to carryout the threats then.
The best plan is the simplest one. I don’t see why they should allow any carry on baggage at all. All I need on my flight is a ticket. Women want to take their make-up, lipstick and such but they can look ugly for a few hours can’t they? Maybe they should just strip everyone down into their underwear before getting into the plane. Maybe completely nude but give them one of those flimsy paper gowns they give you at the doctor’s office. Imagine that: “This is a gun, I am not happy to see you, repeat, I am not happy to see you.”
I’ll close this thread because both these topics are already being discussed in a GD thread, Can we seal aircraft cockpits? I direct any remaining unanswered questions to that thread.