You can tell them apart--kamikaze flights inherently involve obtaining access to the cockpit. No cockpit, wait it out. Cockpit (any serious attempt to obtain access), take them down at all costs.

Nah, I'm taking them down at all costs regardless of whether they're attempting to breach the cockpit. If they're hijacking the plane to do anything for any reason, I'm fighting dirty and taking them down. I'm not going to sit there and assume things about their intentions.

I think you can probably tell them apart (political claim type versus kill the lot type) so that may impact my decision, but I am firmly of the 'take them out as soon as you can, if you can' camp (exceptions would be if they were wearing explosive vests with dead man triggers, holding a grenade with pin removed, etc.).

I think the population, as a whole, is more inclined to cooperate to defeat hostages on a plane in a post 9-11 world, as the loss of life on board would almost certainly be less than the loss of life on the ground if that was the intent of the terrorists. Even if the terrorists had small arms (I am assuming the likelihood of anything larger than a handgun is remote) there is a finite number of shots they can fire before needing to stop to reload.

I also think pilots are maybe more likely to cause potential harm to passengers to save the plane load these days as well (e.g. knocking out oxygen supply to the cabin) which would be a good option, provided no dead man triggers of course!

The chances of anyone experiencing a hijacking is extremely remote, unless you are the hijacker.

There are plenty of risks that are far more likely to occur to worry about instead of this.

There was a sea change in common wisdom that occurred in real time on 9-11. Before then, it was "Everyone stay quiet, do what the hijackers want, and you'll all get out alive." By mid-morning on that fateful day people had figured out, "The hijackers are determined to kill every single person on this plane plus thousands more on the ground. Consider yourselves deputized."

Thank you for the answers I had thought would be given to the OP's question.

Man, I really hope I'm not on the same flight as you if it's a ride to Cuba kind of hijacking. And...
Man, I really hope I am on the same flight as you if it's a 9/11 kind of hijacking.

In a world where our kids know about Run, Hide, or Fight, something tells me you're hardwired for the last one. Respect.

-1. Needlessly harsh.

Maybe you should read up on some of these as well. I doubt you'd feel the same way if you knew someone who went through this.

Agreed.

You realize that the 9/11 hijackers also claimed if people complied they would not be hurt, right?

Frankly, it isn't about being a hero per se. It's about the fact that sadly, it's better to risk the loss of the plane than the loss of the plane PLUS lives on the ground.

Exactly. That's kinda the point. Hard to say whether fighting back is foolish/unhelpful vs warranted heroism (to save other people).

And calling someone's opinion nonsense (even if it it seems warranted) is -1 on the scale of Promoting Civil Discourse.

maybe we can try to hide in some space like restroom or other small cabin

Very true, and this knowledge is very likely why flight 93 didn't reach its intended target. The passengers on that flight knew about the earlier hijackings and weren't going to let it happen again.

I think that political hijackers will usually make it clear what they want, such as the release of prisoners. If they don't, it's safe to assume they are suicide hijackers, and charge against them.

Are you as much as a superhero stud in real life as you are on the interwebs?

1. Check out flightradar24
2. See how many flights there are at any one time
3. Realise how unlikely a hijacking is.
4. Relax