I’ve had this conversation numerous times :
If the pilots were armed, 9/11 and the subsequent wars never would have happened
Can’t do that. A bullet could put a hole in the fuselage and depressurize the plane.
So it’s better to have the plane fly into a building at 600 MPH, than to sacrifice a pillow for half an hour to cover a small hole in the fuselage?
Maybe te time has come for some other views: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLwtZdLedFc
Funny that…. they used to have guns, before they were banned from doing so.
Actually, they used to be required to have guns — at least if their plane was hauling any US Mail in its cargo.
I think the law preventing pilots from being armed only went into effect two months before 9/11. I think the requirement that ONLY the Secretary of Defense could order a shoot down of rogue airliners was instituted about the same time.
Arm the crews and install a roll of duct tape in a “Break open in case of Emergency” box
Problem solved
I don’t think an adhesive is necessary. The pressure difference will cause any soft object to seal the hole. A pillow, John Kerry’s makeup kit, etc.
The duct tape is for any terrorists left alive.
Incidentally, it was Al Gore’s commission and his urging that disarmed the pilots. His report was in February 1997, not long before the 911 attacks: Shortly thereafter, pilots were quietly allowed to carry while in the cockpit, and that’s still true today. But Obama is pushing to disarm them once again:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/26/obama-to-shoot-down-armed-pilots/
===|==============/ Keith DeHavelle
Mythbusters took care of this in episode 13 of series 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi1_1l7M8FA
It’s a Hollywood lie.
Better video:
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/explosive-decompression-minimyth.htm
Stupidity combined with inertia. What America has become thanks to Dems and the big shots in the stupid party.
A single bullet hole or even several will not cause explosive decompression of a plane. There is time to act.
More concern would be if the bullet pierced a critical structure such as a fuel or hydraulic line. Even that would have been preferable to terrorists using the planes as guided missiles.
I know nothing about guns, but I do believe there are bullets (? hollow point) that break up in the body and have a reduced risk of through-and-through trajectories, thus reducing collateral damage.
A hollow point lead bullet from a pistol isn’t going to penetrate very far.when it hits metal.
The skin of a typical airliner is probably not thick enough to prevent at least some penetration by a .38 (or bigger) hollow, I am thinking. But I have no proof of that. If you want to try it out, let me know how it works out for you. :–))
Reblogged this on Gds44's Blog.
Airline pilots and federal agents use bullets with shotgun like pellets (larger of course) which cannot penetrate the fuselage. The feds tried to stop certification of airline pilots to carry using sequestration as an excuse. Expect more efforts to disarm pilots.
Most stupid airline safety decision yet? The agent who refused to let a pilot board his own aircraft because the pilot had nail clippers.
Second most stupid? The agent who refused to let an ederly US veteran board the plane because the vet had his US Congressional Metal of Honor with him, and the medal had a pin on the back of it.
I had a chat with a pilot once about what would happen in very rapid decompression of an airliner at altitude. His comments were that you would be in so much pain from ” the bends” type pain you would not even be able to reach the oxygen masks. I have no Idea, just quoting an “expert”. If anyone knows if it is wrong or right, please feel free to set me straight.
Not sure, though when I have time I can research this on Pub Med. I do not recall this being a major complaint of the Aloha Airlines survivors – remember the top section of the passenger cabin was ripped off.
When a plane depressurizes, one is more at risk of not getting enough oxygen and going unconscious. Hence, the Aloha flight descended rapidly to a lower altitude. The pressure change, by definition, is less than one atmosphere pressure, the equivalent of rapidly ascending from 33 feet under water to the surface. We could ask a diving expert if you get “the bends” from that depth. My guess is no. And also, the pain from the “bends” isn’t the problem – air emboli to critical organs like the brain and heart is what kills you by causing ischemia/infarction.
I experienced a number of rapid decompressions at altitude in large aircraft I was flying. the most significant thing you notice is fog in the cabin and it gets colder because the ambient air outside the aircraft is likley well be low freezing (see adiabatic lapse rate). Internal tmperature can be controlled by feeding bleed air off the engines into the cabin. But you will need oxygen.
The biggest issue in a rapid decompression is getting to your oxygen mask before hypoxia (lack of oxygen, you pass out without knowing it) gets you. The onset of hypoxia is insidious and the time you have before you become hypoxic varies with altitude. The higher the altitude the more less time you have to react.
All pilots are or used to be (I’m an old guy now) trained to recognize the onset of hypoxia in hyperbaric chambers. All the stuff you see in movies abut rapid decompression is Hollywood silliness.
Thank you for your informed comment.
Okie says:
September 25, 2013 at 8:00 pm
“Airline pilots and federal agents use bullets with shotgun like pellets (larger of course) which cannot penetrate the fuselage.”
My understanding is that this info is out of date. There was initial investigation of frangible loads — like Glaser Safety Slugs. Problem is that the penetration is not adequate to give reliable ‘one-shot stops’ — especially for determined hijackers. So it’s back to good old hollowpoints.
The pilots would not have to put a pillow in the hole. They would just land. They land when a lady has a heart murmur. How much more reason to land when they just shot 4 Sand Monkeys
A hijacker’s face also makes a good plug and the pressure difference keeps him in place for a while until you’ve descended enough.
Their are small leaks in many planes. Sit next to the door feel the cold that is a leak. They are designed for Quite a bit of leakage 1 bullet or 5 will not be a problem except for the person next to the hole getting cold, A fast emergency landing or dropping to below 15,000 will end the problem