Tom,

The issue as to the safety of the craft is clear. Everyone wants the same thing. That's black and white.

The situations are not that black and white, and retrospective examination isn't fair. With hindsight it's all plain. We in essence look at a cut-away of an airplane, and can see what develops over time. They don't have that luxury. Everyone's view is short, fuzzy, and necessarily focussed on immediate threats to themselves, not the bigger picture even if it were available.

The reason there is so much training is that the people on the scene are being overwhelmed fast, and for the others there isn't much time to think things out. No one has enough information to know the entire situation.

I don't have any knowledge that guns on board any of the 9-11 planes would have accomplished anything positive. The flight which crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania could well have made it to it's destination had the hijackers been able to shoot anyone coming down the aisle. And I've seen nothing which indicated the flight crew could have gotten to their guns in time.

And, if you can keep the bad guys out of the cockpit, guns make some sense. They do, indeed. I don't think you can do that. Maybe, but not a slam dunk.

My leaking gas scenario. One of very, very many. The minute one of the flight crew steps out of the door, several first class passengers incapacitate him/her while another one or two step inside the cockpit. The flight crew there are strapped in.

While the situation is developing, while the flight crew is evaluting the threat, and before there can be a response the pilot-in-command is incapacitated.

The flight crew is going to take a number of seconds to assess the situation. They do not want to throw the plane into an unusual attitude for every loony that raises hell. They would have to have evaluated the situation as catastrophic, because the damage from that maneuver is going to be serious.

Or, somehow the pilot-in-command does throw the plane into a steep left or right bank. The bad guy is ready for that, and shoots, knifes, clubs, or whatever that pilot, manages to level the plane out. (Weakness - I don't know how they might be ready for the turn and bank problem, nor do I know exactly how they will incapacitate the flight crew. I'm sure it can be done.)

There is pandemonium in the cabins. Attendants and passengers have broken arms and legs, at best, and any capacity to resist is severely compromised by the cries and screams of injured people. Any sky marshall on board has been incapacitated, too, as he or she had been coming forward to investigate the disturbance in first class.

And, the bad guys now have the gun(s) and the plane.

If it were a situation of someone knocking on the door, or if the problem developed in the cabin and the isolated pilots aware there was an issue, guns would make sense. If you can keep the bad guys from taking over the cockpit guns make some sense. The problem is that it won't be like that, and it won't be that clean, identifiable, slow.

You're also assuming there are no guns on the plane. I'd give you a better than even chance there are. Wouldn't be the first time "they" would have lied to you. Might be the first time you'd have known it, though.

And here's praying no one ever finds themselves in the situation. Ever.

Arf