Matt D From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 9502 posts, RR: 51 Posted (11 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 1127 times:
A long series of hijackings with firearms resulted in metal detectors.
Armed hijackings plunged nearly to zero.
Then there were the plastic explosives. Pan Am #103 anyone?
CAT scans and other three dimensional color X-ray devices were installed.
I don't know of any other planes blown up with plastiqué since then.
Then we had good, old fashioned fist fights. 9/11 was the result.
Now they have banned non-ticketed passengers from the gate areas. They are also implementing armed soldiers, facial scans, oral questioning, and so on.
But will any of these measures *really* be foolproof?
What would be to prevent someone from having a few pounds of C-4 SURGICALLY IMPLANTED in his body, that can be detonated either by pressure change, or a small remote control device, just like what you would use to enable/disable your car alarm? After all, most of these people are willing to die for the "cause" they believe in, so the above scenario might not be all that far fetched at all. Should we ban keys and "alarm remotes" as a premptive mesure against something like that happening? Should all passengers be escorted onto planes blindfolded and strapped to their seats for the duration of the flight? I suppose that COULD work, but who would go for it?
How would we prevent that? Is flying "in the buff" as someone in another thread suggested be the answer? After all, if someone has a large, recently stitched up incision wound, that could give them away.
But seriously folks. How much are you willing to put up with to have the illusion of a "safe" flight?
What do you think the public is willing to put up with?
What about privacy concerns? Should profiling and privacy take precedence over risk?
Will it get to the point that people are so scared and/or frustrated by the flying process that the industry will shrink down to a fraction of what it is now, opening the door to say, a railroad renaissance via high speed rail?
Is the treatment worse than the disease?
Are we fighting the symptoms and not the disease?
CAN terrorism REALLY be stopped?
Are we really any safer?
Or are we just jerking off and putting on a show to make people THINK they're safer?
Iahcsr From United States of America, joined Jun 1999, 3308 posts, RR: 45 Reply 1, posted (11 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 1115 times:
In a word... NO.
Not unless one can change Human Nature..... the dark side ... if you will... of the Human Heart. Oh, we can make efforts to reduce the success of such acts. But the desire to commit them will remain until Hate is gone from our world.
B757300 From United States of America, joined Dec 2000, 4114 posts, RR: 25 Reply 2, posted (11 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 1097 times:
Terrorism can never be eliminated 100%. However, if terrorists know that their actions will never achieve the desired result and all that will happen to them is instant retaliation and destruction then the threat of terrorism will be much, much smaller.
FlightSimFreak From United States of America, joined Oct 2000, 720 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (11 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 1088 times:
Ask yourself this... Has terrorism ever been successfull? Why do terrorists continue to do stuff like this if they know it won't be successfull, and that it will just bring the intended target together and make them stronger?
Airman99o From Canada, joined Aug 1999, 969 posts, RR: 2 Reply 4, posted (11 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 1078 times:
Well EL AL seems to be doing a Very good job of keeping them out of the flights and all that. Why doesn't every airline follow suit. I think El Al Should be praised for the way they handle security.
America West From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 5, posted (11 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 1069 times:
My Aunt was chosen in Denver to be wanded and to have her purse and carry on searched. They found a pair of nail clippers that they absolutely refused to let her take on the aircraft unless they had her permission to break off the metal fingernail file attached to them. And she said yes. They questioned her and even made her take out her ticket and lap top computer. However, after all was said and done it turns out that they seemed to have missed the pocket knife that she was carrying with her. It was a fairly decent size and she usually puts it in her checked baggage, but forgot this time. She noticed she had it in her purse after she got home.
And security is supposed to be BETTER than it was before September 11? Either we ARE just putting on a show to make people think they're safe, or there are some BIG flaws in the system.
Skyguy11 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 6, posted (11 years 5 months 3 weeks 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 1065 times:
No it can't ever be stopped, only lessened. And even if these measures are for public peace of mind ask yourself this: would you rather fly scared out of your mind because you know that you're risking your life by flying or would you rather just take em as they go with total piece of mind? I'm not trying to be pessimistic or prechy, but I'd much rather fly with piece of mind when I can't do a thing about it anyway!
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