Originally Posted by
cardiomd
I would argue that it wasn't even a gap in security back then, but was a rational decision. Before 9/11, cooperating with hijackers (to some degree obviously) was probably the right / smart thing to do, and saved lives in that terrible situation.
But that was in large part due to the lack of action by the FAA; for years/decades. The resistant cockpit countermeasure should have been implemented when the first wave of hijackings (to Cuba) began, and was even more imperative after two flight crews had been shot and killed in flight.
What would have been the paradigm if non-suicidal hijackers had been unable to gain access ? I don't know, but I doubt that executing cabin crew or passengers would have brought the pilot out. It's not as if all hijacks ended without innocent murders.