Enter and Die

Saying that the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 “changed” things is the understatement of the century. Nowhere is the change more apparent than in the aviation industry, which suffered mightily in the wake of the attacks and still has not entirely recovered. Anyone who has traveled by air from an airport within the United States knows the increased security measures travelers must endure, and most Americans probably remember that shortly after the creation of the TSA, the federal government started a program to deputise and arm pilots in the cockpit so that another suicide hijacking would be impossible. (Such pilots are referred to as Federal Flight Deck Officers, or FFDOs.)

What most of you probably don’t know is that all pilots are now trained to — and this is a paraphrase here — “ensure the safety of the cockpit by any means necessary”. While there has (thankfully) been no need to test this training in a court of law, what it tells me is that pilots are authorised to use deadly force if they perceive an imminent threat to the safety of the aircraft, in particular if someone attempts to enter the cockpit without authorisation.

I think this point deserves broader publicity, and I also think it would be driven home very clearly if all aircraft cockpit doors were placarded as follows:

DANGER! ANY ATTEMPT AT UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY MAY RESULT IN DEATH!

(Thanks to St. Claire’s Safety Sign Builder for the sign.)

posted by Chris on 15 February 2007 at 2127 in aviation

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