[MR] Airlines

[Rupert Gaddy]

I am no fan of corporate America, but what many posts have failed to realize
is that the airlines (as much as I would like to blame them) were playing by
an old set of hijack rules, just like the terrorists expected them to be.

The old rules were co operate, let them land somewhere and work it out with
less risk to the aircraft, the passengers or the crew. In the past hijackers
wanted to go somewhere they could not go, wanted to extort money, or to make
some political statement, usually, though not always, releasing the
passengers, etc.

I am sure not a single pilot would have opened the cockpit doors even if the
hijackers had killed the flight crew and passengers one by one, had he known
what his airplane was going to be used for.  That is the problem with
terrorists, they never play by the rules.

Today we know the rules, and guess what, 4 guys with knives would be ripped
apart by the passengers if they even thought that the plane would be used to
hit the White House or other target...or all the passengers would be dead
long before the plane hit somewhere.

What I worry about is the next rule change....I don't think this is over, no
matter how much I hope it is.

You can take it off the list, but not off peoples minds and hearts.

Rupert