amazing PA aanouncement by the captain
 

My wife received this email from a work associate. I don't know if it is fact or fiction but it sure its interesting:

"I just wanted to drop you all a note and let you know that I arrived safe
and sound into Dulles Airport tonight [9/15] at about 6:00. It was an
interesting flight. The airport in Denver was almost spooky, it was so
empty and quiet. No one was in line for the security check point when I got
there so that went fairly quickly, just x-ray of my bags and then a chemical
test to be sure nothing explosive was on them. Then I waited 2 1/2 hours to
board the plane.

What happened after we boarded was interesting and thought I would
share it with you. The pilot/captain came on the loudspeaker after the doors
were closed. His speech went like this:

'First I want to thank you for being brave enough to fly today. The
doors are now closed and we have no help from the outside for any problems
that might occur inside this plane. As you could tell when you checked in,
the government has made some changes to increase security in the airports. They
have not, however, made any rules about what happens after those doors close. Until they do that, we have made our own rules and I want to share them with you. Once those doors close, we only have each other.

The security has taken care of a threat like guns with all of the increased
scanning, etc. Then we have the supposed bomb. If you have a bomb,
there is no need to tell me about it, or anyone else on this plane; you are
already in control. So, for this flight, there are no bombs that exist on this
plane. Now, the threats that are left are things like plastics, wood, knives, and other weapons that can be made or things like that which can be used as weapons.

Here is our plan and our rules. If someone or several people stand up and say they are hijacking this plane, I want you all to stand up
together.
> Then
> > take whatever you have available to you and throw it at them. Throw it
at
> > their faces and heads so they will have to raise their hands to
protect
> > themselves. The very best protection you have against knives are the
> > pillows and blankets. Whoever is close to these people should then try
to
> > get a blanket over their head--then they won't be able to see. Once
that
> is
> > done, get them down and keep them there. Do not let them up. I will
then
> > land the plane at the closest place and we WILL take care of them.
After
> > all, there are usually only a few of them and we are 200+ strong! We
will
> > not allow them to take over this plane.
> >
> > I find it interesting that the U.S. Constitution begins with the words
> "We,
> > he people"--that's who we are, THE people and we will not be
> defeated.'With
> > that, the passengers on the plane all began to applaud, people had
tears
> in
> > their eyes, and we began the trip toward the runway. The flight
attendant
> > then began the safety speech. One of the things she said is that we
are
> all
> > so busy and live our lives at such a fast pace. She asked that
everyone
> turn
> > to their neighbors on either side and introduce themselves, tell each
> other
> > something about your families and children, show pictures, whatever.
She
> > said 'for today, we consider you family. We will treat you as such and
ask
> > that you do the same with us.'
> >
> > Throughout the flight we learned that for the crew, this was their
first
> > flight since Tuesday's tragedies. It was a day that everyone leaned on
> each
> > other and together everyone was stronger than any one person alone. It
was
> > quite an experience. You can imagine the feeling when that plane
touched
> > down at Dulles and we heard 'welcome to Washington Dulles Airport,
where
> the
> > local time is 5:40.' Again, the cabin was filled with applause


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This does not sound like a true story to me-- buy hey, I could be wrong. I like the spirit of it, in any case.

Although I'm uncertain if it was the same flight, there was an article in today's (9/21) San Francisco Chronicle that mentioned the same/similar announcement, so it appears that the story you noted might be credible.

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...ML/006146.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/007922.html

It is true.

Both my flights today had the exact same speech given (with location changes of course).

On one flight the captain also stated that whenever the seat belt sign was on, that was to be considered a direct order from him, and that passengers were to return to their seats at once "...no exceptions. Even to go to the restroom. If you get out of your seat while I have that seat belt sign on, you will find yourself being arrested by Federal authorities upon landing at the closest airport, and disrupting your fellow passenger's journey."

I agree...

But this week now, it seems they are not telling you to introduce yourself to your neighbor.... seems more and more like it used to.. except emptier airports and less flights http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

I guess business travellers can throw their 10lb laptops at them. Those things can cause injury.

I was a pretty good baseball player when I was a bit younger. If I work on my fastball and substitute the roll most airlines give you.....I good be downright lethal. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Perhaps the food tray could be used against hijackers, flung like a frisbee a la Top Job in one of the old James Bond movies? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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Middle_Seat

Almost anything in carry ons can be used as a weapon if you think on it, so banning butter knives and allowing sharp prong metal forks seems a little odd.

[This message has been edited by sendoisan (edited 09-23-2001).]

I withdraw my previous skepticism of the pilot's announcement-- 3 friends have separately reported to me hearing a (much-abridged) version of the Pilot's speech.

What a strange time...

Wow, imagine getting arrested for using the restroom. I thought getting arrested for smoking in the lav was harsh enough; now you'll get arrested just for using the lav for its intended purpose at the wrong time. Well, if you really gotta go, while you're in there, might as well smoke 'em if you got 'em, since you're going to be arrested anyway.

I wonder which is worse -- pissing off your fellow passengers by making an unscheduled stop to get arrested for using the lav, or pissing off your fellow passengers for fouling the air and the seat cushion by ****ting and pissing in your pants instead of ****ting and pissing in the toilet.

If I really had to go, I would rather be arrested than **** in my pants. I've been arrested once but I've never **** in my pants before (normally I have access to a restroom -- what a concept). Being arrested is embarrassing, but probably not as embarrassing as ****ting in my pants. Better to be viewed as a petty criminal than an invalid, but that's just my opinion.

Forget about "good old days" being the 1970's. Now "good old days" refers to 1998 or 2000.

You know, air travel was stressful enough already. With the FAA "clamping down" on terrorism by confiscating nail clippers and triple-checking ID's, I can see why load factors are so low. Who the hell wants to put up with that? Con Air does have an advantage in that it's truly safe, and it's free! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif