for Ken hAAmer: How could one, with full knowledge of what happened 9/11, 'carefully evaluate' the circumstances if a U.S. flight that one is travelling upon is hijacked?? How does one do that when someone pulls out a gun (or other threatening weapon) and announces a takeover of the plane? Do we ask for identification and proof of intent? Could perhaps he simply lie?

No, I don't think they'll probably be able to hijack a plane as they did before, I think they just may try to put a bomb on them. My point of contention is that, just like shark attack victims are probably more concerned about a dip in the ocean, so will any passenger on a U.S. flight be if a hijacker pops up - and calmly evaluating the situation will be the last thing on anyone's mind. Maybe the odds will favor the unfortunate if a sky marshal is on that flight, maybe the pilot can depressurize the plane and render the hijacker unconscious, maybe the pilot can execute a dive to allow passengers to overwhelm the hijacker - or maybe people react first. But there won't be a voice vote with discussion first ...