Well, it is all over. The hijackers released everyone. However, I did notice that in the news that the flight crew (the plane's captain, co- pilot, flight engineer and first officer) escaped on Tuesday thru the cockpit window. What does everyone think of the crew leaving the passengers? I guess captains don't go down with the ship anymore.

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[This message has been edited by doc (edited 02-10-2000).]

Actually my understanding is that they are trained to "try" to escape in these such cases. However, many crewmembers, particularly pilots often come to feel that they would be "abandoning" the hostages and neglect to make such an effort- even in the rare instances when an opportunity may present itself.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/000577.html

I'd much rather that the crew escape.

The pilots leaving creates an obvious issue - who'll fly the plane?

It's potentially another bargaining chip for the negotiators. You want to leave? Fine, release the hostages.

Of course logic doesn't always carry weight with terrorists, who don't exactly look for logical reasons to start killing people.

Tough call. One I'm glad I don't have to make.


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"I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own."

Absolutely. The crew members did the right thing: they stayed alive. I'll bet that's all they had on their minds. That and their families.

Actually, I think the crew escaping is a better bargaining chip. No one is going anywhere without a crew. At least you can try to leverage the pax out in exchange for a crew whom the hijakers won't harm. But, as Jon Toner pointed, there's no logic to a hostage-taker's way of thinking. I which case you're at their mercy and you do the best you can.

It seems like the whole thing was a big set up to get to Britain and claim asylum to get away from Afghanistan. Of the 150+ people on board, only 34 actually want to go back. The police have arested 22 passengers on suspicion of hijacking and they will be tried in Britain. It took them a long time to work out who was a hijacker and who a victim - but say they won't be making any more arrests. A total of 74 including those arrested have already claimed political asylum. They are all currently under guard in the Stanstead Hilton (I kid you not) while the government works out what to do with them.... The Home Sceretary has already said he would like to send all of them back, otherwise it looks like an incentive to other hijackers. The Afghani 727 will have to undergo days of stringent safety checks before it will be allowed to fly back.. A most unusual situation!