Letter: Hijacking - An Unspeakable Solution?

Simply seal the crew module. If the crew cabin cannot be accessed, the motivation for hijacking is eliminated. If the hijackers can’t speak to the pilot they can’t influence him.

The sealed pilot module would be opened only after an acceptable passenger disembarkation at the destination. Communications between the passenger and crew cabins would be intentionally restricted during flight. You can’t influence an isolated pilot.

Essential communications between pilot and flight attendants such as ”Prepare for takeoff or landing” could be through light signals. There might be a show stopper emergency alarm: Hell, the cabin’s on fire! Pilots could escape via rope ladders or slides just as the passengers do now. The emergency alarm could also tell ground control to alert a security/fire/medical team.

I realize the downside; an in-flight passenger medical emergency for example. But in the imperfect real world, we have to make probabilistic trade offs.

This seems too simple; rather like Archie Bunker’s “Arm all the passengers” solution. The details need to be worked out but the basic idea seems sound. Am I missing something?

Mike.Johnson@home.com
602-956-0180