Red Panda From Hong Kong, joined Jun 2000, 1521 posts, RR: 0 Posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 717 times:
UAL is deciding to use stun guns to increase air travel safety onboard. UAL F/As and pilots (not all F/As though) will be armed with stun guns that can emit electricity to paralyze hijackers for up to 5 seconds. Stun guns is safer than real hand guns since stun guns won't break cabin windows in case it missed its target.
what do you think about stun guns? I personally quite like the idea.
Johnnybgoode From Germany, joined Jan 2001, 2187 posts, RR: 7 Reply 1, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 696 times:
that´s been quite a clever move by United, and they certainly need to do some things visible to the public which improves their image.
being the first airline to "arm" its pilots and to "increase" safety may be a wise move to convince the people to fly UA again.
but actually, i don´t see a difference between stun guns and real guns in the cockpit/on the aircraft, except for its non-lethal capacity.
sure, a real gun could kill a pilot, a hi-jacker or a sky-marshall, however, a stun gun would also stun the pilots or sky marshalls if it got into terrorists hands´ and thus there would be nobody to hinder the terrorists at taking the controls in the first place.
in this case it´s no difference if the hi-jackers kill the pilots or only stun them temporarily, the effect would be the same tragic one...
rgds
daniel
If only pure sweetness was offered, why's this bitter taste left in my mouth.
Canadi>nBoy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 690 times:
What do I think of UAL using stun guns. I'll tell you how it makes me feel. It makes me feel especially grateful for the fact that I flew "on the line" as a
Flight Attendant for a Canadian charter airline back in the mid-1980's for 5 years, when flying was truly fun. It was, indeed. Crews were carefree, and I looked forward to each international flight and subsequent layover as an adventure. And I was never dissapointed.
It makes me feel nostalgic for an era where we, as cabin crew, did not worry or were stressed out and fearful of even reporting for a flight. We never once thought of not seeing our families and friends again due to the horrific acts committed by fanatics. As far as we were concerened, a passenger who had one too many glasses of wine was our worst nightmare.
It was Where during boarding, you sincerely smiled at passengers, and did not scrutinize them as being possible hijackers. The worst thing you could expect was an argument over their meal choice not being available, or their duty-free item sold out, not them carrying weapons, or having the desire and will to destroy the aircraft, and all of its occupants.
None of these horrible thoughts entered my or my colleagues minds. I must say those 5 years as a Flight Attendant were amongst the most carefree and fun I have ever known. It was a joy to work a flight, we were truly excited, not filled with a deep apprehension as the aircraft doors closed and we began taxiing.
There was a true sense of passion I held for my job, not a grim sense of paranoia and dark foreboding.
My hat goes off to the cabin, and flight deck crews who fly today for a living. I hope the vast majority of them are lucky enough to have flown in a more peaceful and less dangerous era. I only hope they can derive as much joy, passion, and satisfaction from their jobs today, in 2001, as I and my colleagues did in 1985-1990.
Dragon-wings From United States of America, joined Apr 2001, 3920 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 685 times:
Look for my thread......I posted the article from CNN in this forum
Red Panda From Hong Kong, joined Jun 2000, 1521 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 676 times:
Dragon-wings, did you post this topic first? I had carefully checked through the forum to see if there was anyone already posted it. But there was none. That's why I decided to post this thread. Sorry if you posted it first.
United_Fan From United States of America, joined Nov 2000, 7157 posts, RR: 8 Reply 5, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 673 times:
I'm glad to hear that the f/a 's will have something to fight back with. Unfortunately,today we need f/a's to be armed.
'Empathy was yesterday...Today, you're wasting my Mother-F'ing time' - Heat.
Red Panda From Hong Kong, joined Jun 2000, 1521 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 668 times:
True.
as what Canadi>nBoy said in his post above, flying is sth. that everyone fantasize about back in 80s. It is this fantasy about acfts (when I was a kid) makes me love aviation so much.
Dragon-wings From United States of America, joined Apr 2001, 3920 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 653 times:
I dont mind RedPanda.......I was just letting everyone know that the CNN article was posted in the forum
Dragon-wings From United States of America, joined Apr 2001, 3920 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (11 years 6 months 1 week 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 648 times:
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - United Airlines will arm its cockpits with electronic tasers to help its pilots defend against any attempted hijacking.
The airline, which lost two of its planes to hijackers in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, said Thursday that the tasers will fire an electronic charge that will disable intruders, allowing them to be subdued. The tasers can be fired at a distance of a couple of yards, allowing the threatening passenger to be subdued before they are next to the pilot.
"United and its pilots believe tasers are an important addition to enhanced cockpit security. Tasers will incapacitate an attacker without endangering the airplane," said a statement from Andrew Studdert, the airline's chief operating officer.
The airline said it will start placing the tasers in electronically coded lockboxes in cockpits as soon as it gets necessary clearance. The tasers will be removed from the lockbox once the crew is in the cockpit and returned at the end of the flight.
United, a unit of UAL Corp. (UAL: up $0.64 to $12.53, Research, Estimates), was also one of the first major airlines to announce it had completed the reinforcement of cockpit doors to discourage hijack attempts.
The tasers are being sold to the airline by Taser International Inc., (TASR: up $1.38 to $12.18, Research, Estimates) a Scottsdale, Ariz., company. The size of the contract was not announced by United or the company.
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