Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 11:42:41 EDT 

Aboard Flight 564 
 
Peter Hannaford Published 9/19/01 
 
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As it was at most U.S. airports, last Saturday was the first near-normal day 
at Denver International since the terrorist attacks. On United's Flight 564 
the door had just been locked and the plane was about to pull out of the gate 
when the captain came on the public address system. "I want to thank you 
brave folks for coming out today. We don't have any new instructions from the 
federal government, so from now on we're on our own." The passengers listened 
in totalsilence. He explained that airport security measures had pretty much 
solved the problem of firearms being carried aboard, but not weapons of the 
type the terrorists apparently used, plastic knives or those fashioned from 
wood or ceramics. "Sometimes a potential 
hijacker will announce that he has a bomb. There are no bombs on this 
aircraft and if someone were to get up and make that claim, don't believe 
him. "If someone were to stand up,brandishsomething such as a plastic knife 
and say 'This is a hijacking' or words to that effect here is what you should 
do: Every one of you should stand up and immediately throw things atthat 
person - pillows, books, magazines, eyeglasses, shoes -anything thatwill 
throw him off balance and distract his attention. If he has a confederate or 
two, do the same with them. Most important: get a blanketover him, then 
wrestle him to floor and keep him there. We'll land the plane 
at the nearest airport and the authorities will take it from there." 
"Remember, there will be one of him and maybe a few confederates, but there 
are 200 of you. You can overwhelm them. "The Declaration of Independence says 
'We, the people' and that's just what it is when we're up in the air: we, the 
people, vs. would-be terrorists. I don't think we are going to have any such 
problem today or tomorrow or for a while, but some time down the road, it is 
going to happen again and I want you to know what to do. "Now, 
since we're a family for the new few hours, I'll ask you to turn to the 
person next to you, introduce yourself, tell them a little about yourself and 
ask them to do the same." The end of this remarkable speech brought sustained 
clapping from the passengers. He had put the matter in perspective. If only 
the passengers on those ill-fated flights last Tuesday had been given the 
same talk, I thought, they might be alive today. One group on United Flight 
93, which crashed in a Pennsylvania field, apparently rushed the hijackers in 
an attempt to wrest con trol from them. While they perished, they succeeded 
in preventing the terrorist from attacking his intended goal, possibly the 
White House or the Capitol. Procedures for 
dealing with hijackers were conceived in a time when the hijackers were 
usually seeking the release of jailed comrades or a large amount of money. 
Mass murder was not their goal. That short talk last Saturday by the pilot of 
Flight 564 should set a new standard of realism. Every passenger should learn 
the simple - but potentially life-saving - procedure he outlined. Heshowed 
his passengers that a hijacking does not have to result in hopelessness and 
terror, but victory over the perpetrators. The Airline Pilots Association, 
the pilots' union, last week dropped its opposition to stronger cockpit doors 
and is now calling for retrofits. (It's opposition was based on pilot 
concerns about getting out easily in emergency situations.) The scandal of 
easily penetrated airport security will result in congressional calls for a 
federal takeover of the security system. 
Previous efforts to reform security procedures and raise standards have been 
talked to death. This time, however, no lobbying efforts must be allowed to 
prevent airport security from getting the reforms that are needed: federal 
operation, rigorous training, decent pay and no foreign nationals eligible 
for employment. Peter Hannaford is a public affairs consultant. Copyright 
(c) 2001 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.