Originally Posted by
FoPAA
This wasn't a hypothetical, it actually happened:
Pan Am 73 . Also.
There wasn't really any controversy - removing the pilots is an effective way of disabling an aircraft.
Except now the hijackers can fly the plane themselves and hijack in midair. So short of the captain swallowing the key or throwing it out the window, in which case the plane turns itself off and everyone dies anyway, there's no easy way to disable a plane.