What are some ways to disarm a knive-wielding hijacker?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Pull the lever! This will release the 16 ton weight or the tiger… Oh, wait a minute. That’s for defending yourself against someone armed with fresh fruit.

Step 1. Know beforehand that you will win. Then all you have to do is to accomplish the fact.

It would help if you could make a coordinated attack. If you suddenly spring up and fight, your allies may be taken offguard as well as the attacker. With three or four people the opponent should be incapacitated.

Once you have attacked, do your best to keep the opponent down. Kill him. If you can’t kill him, pull out your pen, dinner knife, or anything strong and pointy and stab out his eyes. He can’t hit you if he can’t see you. (And he’ll be in serious pain.) Take care he doesn’t reach for some sort of transmitter.

Don’t be afraid to kill. There have been posts in other threads by people who say they could never take a life. I myself am non-violent (and in fact, I lost the last fight I was in). But I will cause the most harm I possibly can if it’s him or me. Knees and elbows are relatively easy to mess up, but don’t get fancy. Just do the job as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Fight dirty.

22

Oh, garrotes can be effective if you can make a sneak attack. Try using ladies’ nylons twisted for strength. Nylons can also be used to tie people up.

23

someone mentioned it earler. Find the fire extiguisher, and spray it to blind the opponent. Then take him out.

24

is a seat belt extension. 2 to 3 feet long, with a steel buckle (male and female) on each end. Essentially a section of seat belt, wide and strong enough to stop slashes. Every flight carries several. These could be used to wrap your arm to parry with, or used as offensive weapons. You would be amazed at the damage you could do even if it’s blocked(dodged is a different matter, but you still have the advantage of range) it will wrap around an arm and foul a knife slash or break bones. Might be a good missle weapon as well for the first charge, reminiscent of a bola. Throw one like a bola and if it hits the head, almost certain takedown of the opponent.

Of course these extensions are stored in cabinets in the stewardess area, and you may have to look for them, but they would be a devestating weapon. If there is a large person on the flight who was using one of these it might be more easily obtainable from there.

My martial arts training, as well as the classes my wife has taken both indicate two things, in a knife fight, fight to kill/incapacitate and accept the fact that you WILL get cut. To demonstrate this point my wife’s sensei brought a magic marker to class one night and took on all comers weilding it as a knife. There was not one person who escaped unmarked. My wife took a stab in the ribs which would probably been fatal if it were real.

Steven

25

ridge-hand to the adams apple.then go for the eyes w/both thumbs. a person i knew did this ,in prison, to the inmate who was running the cell-block.the guy had to be carried out.he was said to be about 6’6" 250lbs of tatoo’d muscle.and the person i know is maybe 160lbs. 5’5"(but he’s a fierce little guy) side note: i wasn’t there. i just heard stories.

26

Wouldn’t you simply bark fiercely and leap for their jugular?

27

Lots of good advice, lots of complete fantasy.
As a martial artist and someone who has actually had an unarmed encounter with a knife attack, I’ll wiegh in.
Real fights do not happen like they do in the movies. They tend to be very fast, frantic affairs.
I was attacked by 4 young men. The leader had a decent sized knife. Based on what I knew from sparring with rubber knives and previous experience with a bad blade wound, I knew that I had to act assertively, aggressively and that I had time before the pain (or death) would come.
This is absolutely crucial. Once you commit to fighting, move in then. Show no attempt to ready yourself or adopt a fighting stance. Just attack as fiercely and quickly as you can. You will probable get ‘hurt’. But will not feel the pain for a while.
Go for the eyes first. If you do anything else, your attacker may adopt a position that makes this impossible from then on. Then the throat. Hit hard enough, it will swell making it hard for the attacker to breath, further distracting him. Then hit, kick, gouge, etc with extreme predijuce.
In my case, I recieved a nasty gash ( for which I still have a beaut of a scar) on my left rib cage. But that was all and I recovered just fine. And I handily won the encounter. The other 3 fled after the first few seconds, luckily.
My personal opinion is that as Americans, having grown up watching John Wayne movies we feel that there must be rules of honor or at least a time that ‘seems’ right to start the fight. There isn’t. It starts when it starts. Get the first blow in. Very important!
As for banging them over the head with cushions or slapping them with seat belts, I have this to say. Go rent a UFC video. The human body can take a tremendious beating on adrenaline and keep going.

28

very noble of you. but your attacker would probably stick and stick and stick. not just bury the knife,then let go.a fierce enough attacker would know where to stick so as not to lose the weapon.or damage it for that matter.yes you can break a knife if you hit bone hard enough.remember he has an enormous advantage, he has thought it out,and he has a weapon. but you can suprise him. act like your a totally whipped puppy,hell piss your pants. then at the moment his pumpkin is w/in arms reach.hit him in the adams apple. put your thumbs in his eyes, bite his freakin’ nose off…
then when you get home say to yourself:“whew i didn’t think i had it in me” ,see another surise…

29

I would reach into my luggage under the chair in front of me and pull out some Icy Hot and a bottle of wart remover. I would cover both hands with sizable globs of Icy Hot, and instruct the passengers near me to do the same. Also, anyone wearing a belt should remove it and prepare to use it as a weapon, either for choking or horse-whipping one of the hijackers. Gang rush the hijackers, and immediately try to gouge their eyes with your Icy Hot covered hands–if you can’t get the eyes, be sure to shove it in their nose and mouth. Also, be sure that someone is prepared to hit one of the hijackers square in the face with the wart remover, which is a highly caustic acid. If possible, get someone to make a distraction so that a hijacker will momentarily look the wrong way before you get their eyes.

If you can get a hijacker into hand-on-hand combat, try your best to hit them hard in the testicles, and try to grab any weapon they may have, and if possible, use it to cut off their genitals, slit their throat, or open a gaping wound in their chest. If you can’t accomplish any of these things early in the fight, try to choke them into unconsciousness, or at least bite them. If the opportunity presents itself, shove you hands deep in between their shoulder blades for a very painful and effective submission maneuver.

30

My other thought would be to give Maeglin his sword out of the overhead and stand behind him.

31

I’ve thought about this a bit myself. About 8 years experience in various styles including FMA and JKD.

What do you think of this approach?

First, use a piece of carry-on or a seat cushion as a shield, and with that, barrel into the guy, either trapping him in a corner/against a wall, or forcing him down over/into seats. In some respects, it seems the enclosed space can work to your advantage because, while it is tough for you to avoid injury, it is also tough for him to avoid your bullrush. As you know, effective knife fighting requires mobility, not readilly availablle iin a plane. If you are holding the shield in front of you, he has few targets other than your fingers. Yes, you may well be cut, but that is why it is important that one or more fellow passengers jump on him as soon as you have him trapped or unbalanced.

Another thing to realize is, anything that gives you greater reach than the knife, gives you an advantage. In other words, a suitcase, umbrella, golfclub, whatever, can be used, although the enclosed cabin would create problems using overlong weapons. Remember, defang the snake. Aim your strikes at his knife hand/arm. Even if you do not make him drop his weapon, you are occupying that limb while your fellow passengers attack.

What would totally suck is if the guy has his blade to someone’s throat and threatens to kill them if you attack. Hard to think of what you would have to go through to sacrifice that person to take out the hijacker. At the risk of sounding entirely callous, should he kill his hostage, their body becomes a shield between him and you as you attack.

Knives are very scary. A skilled knife fighter can defeat several unarmed opponents, especially if they are unwilling to accept any injuries. But not everyone is trained in how to use knives. And if a group would rather go down fighting, I wouldn’t get too much security out of my knife.

32

Weapons close at hand…
armrests -for striking
writing implements -for stabbing
flashlight (it’s plugged in near the flight attendant’s jumpseat)- for striking
seat belt extension -for striking or garrotte
trouser’s belt -for garrotte
shoelaces -for garrotte
high heeled shoes -for stabbing
toiletry kit (antiperspirant spray with a lighter makes a NICE torch to the face)
nail file -for stabbing
toothbrush -stabbing into soft tissues (eyes, neck, armpit)
steel toed/hard soled shoes -kicking
drink cart -to rush the attackers
Protection close at hand
seat cushion
drawers from the flight attendant station or drink cart
magazines and newspapers
coats and sweaters
carry on luggage

33

The thing to remember is that there will be multiple targets, 3-5 if not more. They almost assuredly will have someone(s) by the throat and you will have to take that into account. Unfortunately, you almost have to look at these people as already dead (but possibly savable.) They, the terrorists, are counting on you to weigh the single life of the person with the knife at their throat above the lives of everyone else on the plane. It’s terrible, but you’ve got to suck it up and do what is best for everyone.

That said, you simply must have a coordinated attack, no two ways about it. Swarm and dogpile. Some will get cut but the sheer mass of people will incapacitate the terrorists and from there you are free to do with them as you will… :evilgrinsmiley:

For more on this, see Bills thread: From Now On Should the Passengers Creed be To Jump the HiJackers?.

34

If you’re fortunate enough to get to kill the last hijacker and he’s fully restrained just prior to the fatal blow, be sure to yell, “I am the insane voodoo clown!!!” with a whacked out menacing expression on your face before you slice his throat.

35

they can be linked together to form a longer weapon. A passenger with a seat cushion shield and two extensions linked together to form a 4-6 foot flexible mace would probably be a match for a boxknife-weilding terrorist.

Steven

36

How about throwing a shoe at him? A good, heavy wingtip could do some significant damage as well as being a decent hand-held club.

37

Come to think of it…how about if everyone started throwing shoes? A shoe barage would at least to make them duck, and the throwers could continue to advance until the “targets” were in reach.

38

Every little bit would help, certainly. Many others have noted in many of the other threads that passengers, Americans especially, are expected to cower in the face of terror, that they are not thought likely to attempt to fight back.

A massive response from the passengers would probably take those that wish to inflict terror by surprise. They do not look upon or think that Americans are willing to put themselves in the way of danger, in harms way.

All of this has changed. I assure you that the next time someone attempts to hijack a plane, they will be resisted, they will be outnumbered and, unless they have a bomb, they will not succeed.

39

Uh, sorry 'bout the bold thing going on there.

40

I’ve learned a lot from this! Just want to reiterate something only mentioned twice: Go for the nuts.

Don’t kick them. You’ll be off balance, giving them a chance to push you down; your aim may not be the best; and you may not get the best leverage. If you’re too close, you may just hit the coccyx, which is painful but not debilitating like a hit to the jewels. I wouldn’t even suggest punching. Give him a hard slap from below, then grab hold and twist. If possible, do so from behind or from the side, or at least get out of the way quick so he won’t pin you as he falls to the floor, fetal and squealing, unable to do anything except wait it out.

Don’t ask me how I know this.

Also, Friend backs me up, saying, “Guys are used to fighting guys, and guys don’t go for the nuts as a rule…[long and complicated psycho-social analysis]…Women do, but that’s usually in a rape, when the guy’s already vulnerable that way. But if he’s concentrating on killing you, he’s not thinking about his package, which gives you a clear shot.”