Yet again, we've seen fighter jets dispatched to 'escort' aircraft to US airports after threats were made against them. Yet again, we've heard travelers and others remark how "comforting" the presence of those aircraft is to them.
They clearly don't understand that those fighters are there for one reason and one reason only . . . to shoot down the aircraft if it has, indeed, been hijacked or otherwise turned into a danger to cities and installations on the ground. The fighters can't possibly intervene in a hijacking inside the cabin, and can't stop whatever's on board from manifesting itself. Their only function is to stop that aircraft threatening anything or anyone else. That's what their missiles and cannon will do in the last resort.
If I were on board one of those airliners, I wouldn't find the presence of fighters "reassuring" or "comforting". I'd find it bloody terrifying!
Peter
We'd be better off if we just issued folding knives to everyone who got past security. If every adult on a flight was armed with something along the lines of a Benchmade Griptilian or SOG Flash II, any terrorist group that tried something would be doomed to failure. Outnumbered about 10 to 1, in extremely close quarters, the most they could hope for is to leave some of the passengers bleeding out or dead before they themselves get taken down.
ReplyDeleteOr we could allow any person with a CCW who can pass the sort of background check required for TS eligibility to walk through security without any hassle.
LOL
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly.
Let them have their moment of "comfort"...until an AIM-9 blows the wing off.
I'd see at least one tiny measure of comfort- even if somebody tried something and we (the passengers) would be unable to regain control of the aircraft, the bastards wouldn't be able to use the thing as a cruise missile again. Their aims would be foiled, one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it would mean I died, but if it came to that, I'd be as good as dead anyway... the only difference is where our smoking crater would be. Better that it's not in a populated area.
This could easily turn into the aerial equivalent of swatting.
ReplyDeleteSort of the opposite of those getting all upset when landing in a plane and the crash trucks are rolled out as a greeting. I was surprised at how religious everyone in the cabin got when they looked out the windows and saw all the flashing lights.
ReplyDeleteYou bet they're missing the point. I'm convinced that most of the passengers wouldn't believe the real reason behind an escort of fighters even if The Grand High Poobah His-Own-Self came on TV and told them. They just don't get it, and they never will.
ReplyDeleteStupid can be fixed, but you can't fix good brain washing.