# What would happen if someone killed a hijacker on a plane? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2004, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532 "2004-07-11T05:03:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532/21 "2004-07-11T23:55:35Z")
[Here’s the case I was thinking of.](http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2000/Sep-17-Sun-2000/news/14407481.html) > [@](#): > > A Las Vegas man who tried to break into a Southwest Airlines jetliner cockpit during an August flight to Salt Lake City was killed by the passengers who restrained him, not by a heart attack, an autopsy concluded. > > ``` > However, the U.S. Attorney's office is not filing any criminal charges, saying Jonathan Burton's death was merely an act of self-defense by frightened passengers and there was scant likelihood of winning a conviction against anyone involved. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532/22 "2004-07-12T01:10:27Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > …rather than an all out smack-down, which is kind of what happened to that shoe-bomber guy. I’d have had no problem if _he’d_ been beaten to death. Thinking about the same incident, I just looked up (Canadian) Kwame James, the 6’8" basketball player that… helped subdue… Mr Reid. Apparently he’s in some hot water (NOT due to his commendable hijacker-subduing): [http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/062903/spo\_062903spo005001.shtml](http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/062903/spo_062903spo005001.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![hyjyljyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@hyjyljyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hyjyljyj)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532/23 "2004-07-12T21:47:25Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Bear in mind that the current US administration has imprisoned many people,…tortured them… Cite, please, and definition of “many”. And some WMDs have been found in Iraq. Most of them have been well hidden and evacuated, though. Pretty crafty, but not crafty enough to fool “many” people. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532/24 "2004-07-12T23:49:15Z")
Stick to the topic and stop with the politics. Now! Thank you. **DrMatrix** - GQ Moderator ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532/25 "2004-07-13T03:38:10Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Not four hours ago, I was in my girlfriend’s house when her thoroughly domesticated (and altogether rather timid) housecat came in from wandering around the backyard, sampling the local grasses. Girlfriend reported that the cat had already effectively mowed the front lawn over the last few days. The cat skittered around, agitated, made a bunch of weird meows, began huffing, and spewed several mouthfuls of vomit, always bolting to a different part of the house after each deposit. > > I could buy that cats eat grass to induce vomiting to free themselves of airballs. I could also buy that this particular cat is just being a jerk. My cat’s breath smells like cat food. Sorry, just had to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532/26 "2004-07-13T05:19:49Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Incidentally, has there been an airline hijacking of any kind in the last three years? I doubt any hijacker can count on the docile cooperation of the passengers, these days. A little over a year ago, an [Australian man armed with sharpened sticks and aerosol/butane lighter “flamethrowers”](http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/12/1089484304408.html?oneclick=true) tried to hijack a plane and got beat down pretty hard. > [@](#): > > Robinson suffered a delusion that God had chosen him to hijack the plane and crash it into [a Tasmanian park], known as the Walls of Jerusalem, to rid the world of the Devil. Robinson had written on his leg “Lord Zero, King of Kings and Lord of Lords”, and on paper, “Faith”, which he was going to say while flying the aircraft, the jury heard. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532/27 "2004-07-13T22:55:44Z")
i thought that mr ekers was suggesting the use of vomiting cats as a weapon against hijackers. i am rather disappointed to read that he simply misposted. sometimes there are cats on board the plane… may as well use every weapon at hand. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532/28 "2004-07-14T02:35:24Z")
Somebody stops a hijacker on the flight I’m on, I pledge to buy 'em a beer. Maybe two. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532/29 "2004-07-14T03:14:59Z")
> [@rocking chair](#): > > sometimes there are cats on board the plane… may as well use every weapon at hand. Well, you can always use the cat as a silencer, a la _Postal 2_. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532/30 "2004-07-14T03:18:50Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > My cat’s breath smells like cat food My hijacker’s breath smells like boxcutters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-someone-killed-a-hijacker-on-a-plane/254532.md?page=1)