Originally Posted by
Bearcat06
Bet you a 100 bucks it will happen....
Hell, during 9/11, there 2 aircraft from Andrews that were prepared to ram in-bound aircrafts because (at the time) they were unarmed.
Some might have thought the fighter pilots (or they themselves) were prepared to play kamikaze against a civilian passenger plane, but there is no guarantee they would have actually been willing and able to do it at the moment.
Originally Posted by
WilcoRoger
I see one use of fighter escort - visual identification and contact with a non-responding aircraft. Happens from time to time.
Late June Gripens of the Hungarian AF intercepted an Emirates A380 overflying the country as it didn't contact with ATC upon entering. Made visual contact with the plane ("yes, a real civilian aircraft, not a Russian bomber") and it's captain ("Thumbs up, we're OK" - "Then contact the bloody ATC!")
Yes, as I mentioned in my prior post:
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
The primary uses of scrambling "escorts" for a hijacked plane would be to limit the possible use of a SAM that takes out a non-hijacked, non-"foe" flight and to marginally increase the odds of making more of the fuel burn up in the sky in the event a plane is to be taken out before hitting the ground. That said, I have little doubt that the probability is higher that the current "escort" response policy and practices are more likely to lead to the death of more people than a policy of not responding with "escorts" so often for "unruly passenger" incidents. It's security theater in the main, but that's a function of practice more than anything.