From Clyde Reynolds
Your article on a replacement for the current policy of “security stops at
the aircraft door” is timely and thorough
(22 September, p 10).
However, both
the objections you raise against a fortress-cockpit solution could be removed if
the armoured door could be opened only from the cockpit and the cabin crew could
communicate only one unambiguous pre-recorded message to the cockpit, along the
lines of “emergency, please land at the nearest practical airport”.
People who are deprived of any means of communicating with the captain cannot
take control of an aircraft, however much they threaten the cabin’s occupants.
This would reduce the attraction of attempting a hijack virtually to zero.
Geneva
