On Wed, 12 Sep 2001 16:38:48 GMT, "Alexander Ibrahim" wrote:

>Sorry Chris I doubt you and a couple of good ol' boys could stop a terrorist
>hijacking.
>
>You'd be dead if you tried.
[....]
>I don't think people should simply go along with hijackings, but your
>reckless attitude will just get more people killed.

VERY hard to know what actually happened, what the threats
were, and what the understanding of the situation was...
BUT, if I found myself on a plane being hijacked, I would
assume (before now...) that it was simply headed to a
different destination, and that most passengers would
survive (no action adviseable...); if I had evidence of
killings, I would assume that those responsible had little
hope of surviving long after a landing, and that something
else might be "afoot"... (action adviseable, if the
opportunity is presented); if there were some evidence of
what was actually intended in this case, action WOULD be
adviseable! Ten little old ladies armed with the lower
seat cushions and pillows could probably effectively slow
activities enough for 10 strong men (armed with cameras
swung on straps, note-book computerspencils, towels, hands,
pillows, and seat cushions - or even a leg stuck out into an
aisle at an
opportune moment...) should be able to subdue two people
with short-bladed package-openers! What it takes is a
clear assessment of the risks/benefits/harm-from-inaction -
not easy, but I would hope, if that assessment includes
knowledge of what was intended, we would all (realizing
that we are lost in any case, with inaction...) jump on
these crud without regard for personal danger (which
could hardly be worse than the intended outcome...).
This is easy to say now, I know, but I would not be
surprised to find out that that is what happened on
the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania (the result was
bad, but better than allowing the plane to be used to
kill many more). These may have been well-trained men,
but they were small in number, poorly armed, working in
close-quarters with numerous "enemies" all around. With
courage and enough people involved, it "should" be
fairly easy to overwhelm them, given resolve born of
an understanding of the consequences of inaction (and
not cowering in the face of threat...).