dubspecial

The couple sitting in 3E and 3F were a really old couple who had just come from a 100 day cruise. I know cause the person in 3E had to move and ended up sitting next to me...his wife had to go and find a seat in economy somewhere. Anyway, this couple was easily in their 70's and I dont think they had any intention of capturing anything on camera.

N830MH

You got that right, dudes!! I think this is misunderstand. HE wasn't banging at the cockpit but, He tries to opened the aircraft door. Because the door is being locked and can't let him out of the aircraft.

ExpatExp

Some additional discussion about this type of issue (but not an identical situation) has been going on for some time here. The more relevant posts are #168 and #174. Again, this is not an identical situation by any means, but some of the principles are similar.

The simplified answer is that AA could indeed make trouble for you (having you removed from the plane, barring you from future travel, etc.), but that it would be very unlikely that any peaceful and unobtrusive picture-taking on a passenger's part would actually lead to a judgement against that passenger in court.

In other words, you have to decide for yourself how much the photos are worth to you, but it's unlikely you could actually be successfully prosecuted for taking pictures in a peaceful and unobtrusive way.

mvoight

If the plane was in danger of being down, then the person was dangerous, however this passenger was unarmed, so what was the actual danger?

mvoight

No joke. An unarmed man ran up the aisle. What was the real danger?
He had no ability to open the cockpit door.

I never said the passengers didn't know he was unarmed, but that fact is he wasn't armed, so there is no indication anyone was in any real danger.
If I aim a water pistol at you, and you believe it is real, you are still aren't in danger.

corbetti

+1000

Just reading this thread I am more and more convinced that the terrorists have already won by turning what used to be a population of self-reliant strong individuals into a nation of sniveling namby pambies. Sad. Just sad. Man up, grow a pair, and learn to recognize the difference between real and imaginary threats.

PUCCI GALORE

I am frankly shocked by this. I do not think that I have read anything quite as dismissive in the 10 years that I have been on Flyertalk. Have you actually been in this sort of situation. You are travelling normally and suddenly this happens? Out of the blue? I am ashamed to say that I was really skeptical when I read the first two posts and I apologise in advance for that.

I suspect that lots of people have read a great deal about the original attacks. It was the day of the killing of Bin Laden and the expectations of reprisals are out there - that's your country and mine. Quite a lot of passengers may even have seen "United 93". Not a lot of namby pambys aboard that God Rest their souls. Nor were there in New York that day. Nor I suspect in London on 7th July 2005. As for that fireman that tackled that man on the Underground who was trying to detonate - words are not enough.

I can imagine that the FAs were scared witless, and I do not blame them at all. She had to assume that a clear and present danger existed. I am in the same profession. My husband was a policeman until he retired and he was in counterterrorism. You can sit behind your computer screen and think that but when you are at 30,000 ft and suddenly everyone's worst nightmare breaks loose then you tend to react as per training and worry about the consequences afterwards. We are all wise after the event.

We have been prevented from any further outrages - not because of taking off our boots, our belts, our laptops or anything else but thanks to the vigilance and bravery of passengers and crew. Of course we cannot let these dreaful and wicked people dictate our lives but we cannot wait to find out whether this is a lunatic or someone who intends to take us all down. I will not go down without a fight, thrust me.

If you mean that we should not jump at every shadow, I agree with you, however we should be aware that the shadows exist and if they threated to darken us we must react swiftly and positively.

I'm afriad that at the risk of sounding tedious that I agree wholeheartedly with EmmaDog - this is not a laughing matter. What I want to know is where did all these cameras appear from or were they phones that should have been turned off or does everyone switch to inflight mode?

hotelmotel

What relevance does this have to this incident? The gentleman wasn't attempting to use a restroom in F.

austin_modern

One of the --edit-- [silliest] things Ive read on flyertalk including the +1000 reply.

Sure, at the end of the episode when you had your 20:20 glasses on everything was A-OK in your mind, but for those who sat on the plane watching some nutjob sprint up the aisle screaming Muslim chants - Id bet there were more than a few people who's pulse wasnt at 50bpm like your calm cool and collected self. Personally, I would have needed a wetnap to clean my drawers if I was in F.

Global_Hi_Flyer

But he had a Yemeni passport, and we all know that changes everything...

My point is that the media had the opportunity to interview the passengers that brought him down and restrained him, the ones who acted, and make the story very positive about how the passengers acted in defence (where the TSA added zero value). Instead the media decided to focus on the fear factor, which is part of the reason we have the kind of TSA we have.

halls120

Sorry, but there is no way that the individual in question has a mental defect or instability. If he had, TSA's vaunted corps of Behavior Detection Officers would surely have caught him before boarding.

BrianV

How do you know if someone is unarmed? He could be wearing a crotch bomb, and it'd be most lethal to try and blow up the cockpit.

No matter what, if ANYONE regardless of race, age or mental stability charges to a cockpit door, they are a danger, period. If nothing more, it's distracting to the flight crew especially during the most crucial landing part; what if they miss an ATC transmission about reducing/increasing altitude to avoid a small aircraft (without TCAS), it could spell disaster (this is an extreme of course)?

I'd take NO guesses about anyone's intentions, but this behavior is non-excusable.

PRPechek

Try this out with a LEO, and find out if the law is on your side or is on police officer that kills you.

You point a gun at me, whether it is real or not, I will believe my life is in danger and we are going to have a problem.

JDiver

Though this was an incident on American Airlines 1561, similar incidents have occurred on other airlines, and the discussion has devolved into a general discussion on air travel safety and security, rather than travel on AA or earning / burning miles, so it will ship out to the appropriate forum.

Thank you for your participation; please continue it on the Travel Safety/Security Forum. /JDiver, American AAdvantage Forum Moderator

goalie

I'm in for three hockey pucks