Originally Posted by
WillCAD
Well, that all depends on the response of the crew and pax doesn't it? All four planes on 9/11 were hijacked - and brought down - by knife-wielding hijackers.
However, I believe that the new procedures and equipment to secure the flight deck, coupled with a non-cooperative attitude from pax and crew, will prevent that from ever repeating, so I've been in favor for years of repealing the ban on sharps. I don't see as problem with allowing knives under three inches, as was the case before 9/11, though panicky people lost their minds when this was proposed a few years ago and were able to block the change.
Keep in mind, the objection to at least allowing small pocketknives and multi-tools was the FA's concerns about their own personal safety, not fear that the knives would or could be used to gain entrance to the cockpit to take over the plane.
Mission creep - TSA is supposed to be ensuring that the airplane takes off and lands intact and where it should be landing. Anything that happens inside the cabin should be handled pretty much the same way things are handled on trains and other forms of public transport. That same FA who is terrified of being 'trapped' on a plane with a madman wielding a three-inch blade probably gets off his/her flight and gets on a shuttle or train or bus where they could be 'trapped' at the mercy of someone with a legally owned gun or hunting knife.