# What happens if both pilots die at the same time ? (after 9/11) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-both-pilots-die-at-the-same-time-after-9-11/701750 "2014-10-19T02:42:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-both-pilots-die-at-the-same-time-after-9-11/701750/61 "2014-10-29T03:37:23Z")
> [@exile3D](#): > > If no action is taken by the pilot, another set of chimes activates prior to the door automatically unlocking. This allows access to the flight deck if both pilots become incapacitated. For instance, if they both had fish for lunch 🙂 So there _is_ a solution to this! ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-both-pilots-die-at-the-same-time-after-9-11/701750/62 "2014-10-29T16:34:52Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > This may not sound like a serious question, but it is. If the pilots are incapacitated you might as well leave yourself one option, even if it’s not a great one. > > Can your carry-on bag be a fully functional parachute? It seems that the problem here would be getting _outside_ of the aircraft at just the right altitude to deploy said parachute, without being killed by the aircraft. Just because the flight deck crew are not responding does not mean that the engines are turned off. There’s the pressurization to deal with. If you are conscious, and wanting to use your parachute, the cabin is properly pressurized and filled with good breathable air. Exactly how would you go about opening up a door to jump and deploy said parachute? If the cabin has lost pressurization, you’re unconscious anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-both-pilots-die-at-the-same-time-after-9-11/701750/63 "2014-10-29T16:59:35Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > You could probably carry one onboard, but it would look extremely suspicious after D.B. Cooper’s hijacking and then parachuting with $200,000 in 1971. > > And the doors can’t be opened mid-flight. I haven’t carried my rig on a passenger jet post-9/11 however I certainly took it onboard many times before 2001 (and well after 1971!) with no problems at all and I was never asked any questions. All of the airlines specifically allowed sport skydiving gear as carryon (even my automatic activation device which is a little electronic box didn’t get any attention going through the X-ray machine). As you note, you can’t open the doors of a pressurized jet in-flight, and even if you could you’d have a lot of other problems trying to safely exit at cruising speed/altitude. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-both-pilots-die-at-the-same-time-after-9-11/701750/64 "2014-10-29T19:22:14Z")
> [@exile3D](#): > > … > Suprising pilots is generally not a good idea, since many are FFDOs (armed). > Source(s): > Former Airline Pilot Hi **exile**! Welcome aboard. Are you the Former Airline Pilot? There are two others around here that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-both-pilots-die-at-the-same-time-after-9-11/701750/65 "2014-10-29T21:00:15Z")
For reference: A NATION AT WAR: AIRLINE SECURITY; Airline Pilots Set To Carry Firearms, _NYTimes,_ 4/18/03 Is the article accurate? Change over the last decade? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-both-pilots-die-at-the-same-time-after-9-11/701750/66 "2014-10-29T21:07:03Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > … > You could do this. You’d really want some way of ensuring that everyone else was seated and strapped in before you did it, otherwise, although it may not be logical, you may find it hard to accept that you seriously injured people as well as the hijackers. There is also the issue that you need to settle the ride down at some point in order to descend and land. You need to have totally incapacitated the hijackers. > > … > The assumption made is that because 9/11 happened, “normal” hijackings are no longer a thing. I think that if a hijacker could convince the pilots that it was a normal hijacking rather than a suicide mission then they might let them in rather than listen to their crew being murdered. They shouldn’t let them in, and we’re trained not to, but it’s a possibility. It’s one thing to be a bumpy ride where you need to be strapped in or hold onto the seat with both hands… versus standing by a door waving a box-cutter; I suspect it would go flying away when the hijacker hits the ceiling - plus I assume the ride could be bumpier at the ends of the plane than around the wing. You don’t have to totally incapacitate them. I’d be surprised to see a hijacker or two that could stand up to being tossed around, and then recover their weapon before passengers could unbuckle and jump him. But if the alternative is death for all aboard, a few bruises may be tolerable. Once the first passenger or crew is murdered, I assume all bets are off and do what you can. (one of the private pilots renting from the same school I did, had to buy a new back window for a C172 - he was doing the vomit comet aerobatic for his passengers and forgot about the axe in the survival kit in the back - it cracked the back window…) I’m not sure there’s a convincing sales pitch “I’m an old fashioned hijacker.” Especially if he’s at the point of actually killing people. ---
**Author:** ![Hooleehootoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eada6e/32.png) [@Hooleehootoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hooleehootoo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-both-pilots-die-at-the-same-time-after-9-11/701750/67 "2014-10-29T21:28:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > We have discussed this scenario many times here. If the pilots both die/become incapacitated while the door is closed, the door will remain closed until it bursts open when the jet hits the ground & shatters into umpteen thousand small pieces. And yet the article on [Helios 522](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522) says there is evidence that flight attendant Andreas Prodromou was seen in the cockpit before it crashed… ---
**Author:** ![Kamakiri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@Kamakiri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamakiri)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-both-pilots-die-at-the-same-time-after-9-11/701750/68 "2014-10-30T01:59:29Z")
You call frantically for the ghost of Charlton Heston. Second choice is George Kennedy, but his reputation as a, “aviation adviser” died with him on “Airplane.” Third choice, regrettably, is Karen Black. Fourth is of course MH370 Pilot Flying, Zaharia Ahmad Shah, who expertly piloted his state-of-the-art Boeing 77 with consummate skill into one of the most remote parts of the planet. I’m sure if an Imam had appeared to him at some point to discourage him from seeking the 22 (?) virgins, he would not have crashed the plane into the middle of nowhere and now would no doubt still be available to rescue your plane. Oh, and I believe Burt Reynolds is still alive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-both-pilots-die-at-the-same-time-after-9-11/701750.md?page=3)