Originally Posted by
CDTraveler
And for the record, RadioGirl, my concern in not just bringing down air
craft, but for the lives of all those on board. You state a knife won't bring down the air craft, and I agree, but it could be used to kill those on board. Is there no longer any respect for the safety of individual pax, do people now just care about bringing down the bird?
Of course I care about the safety of individual passengers, just as much as I care about my own safety when I'm in the office, at the supermarket, at the movies, or riding the train to work.
Prior to 9/11, a criminal could use a boxcutter or Swiss Army knife to threaten a passenger or FA, and the pilot would go along with the criminal's demands, including allowing access to the cockpit.
That changed on 9/11, before the morning was out. It is no longer a viable method of taking control of an aircraft, and the Bad Guys know that.
In 2011, therefore, someone on an aircraft who threatens someone else with a boxcutter or pocket knife is no different than someone in a cinema, library, bus, office building, school, or supermarket who threatens someone else with a knife. We don't screen people entering those places to ensure they don't attack others with a knife; why should we worry about it on a plane? I'm willing to take my chances with unscreened, potentially knife-carrying people at the shopping mall, the train, my office; why not on a plane?
Further, if someone with a knife threatens someone else, the other passengers will pile on and beat the snot out of him.
Or as
jtodd put it:
Originally Posted by
jtodd
If personal safety is a concern, the person with the knife or scissors are just as dangerous pre-security as post. Maybe we all should be scanned and assaulted when we leave our homes in the morning so that everybody feels totally safe everywhere.