The Laughing Wolf

The Rules Have Changed

Wow. Three posts in a day, and the day is yet young. Can you stand it?

A very thoughtful piece at Little Tiny Lies has reminded me that there is much more to the mores piece I want to write, and of some unfinished business from the week after 9-11. The excellent piece in question has only one point with which I disagree.

That disagreement is on what would have happened had the pilots been armed on 9-11. In the article, the contention is that the attack on the U.S. would not have been successful. With that contention, I must respectfully disagree.

In the week after 9-11, I wrote an op-ed as a pilot and former director of the Aviation/Space Writers Association. The title of the piece was the same as this: The Rules Have Changed. Given recent events, it is easy to forget the mindset of the pre-9-11 days.

For years, pilots, flightcrews, and even passengers had been trained not to resist in any active way. You cooperated, stalled, never looked them in the eye, never did anything to upset them, etc. This was drilled in at flight school, special seminars, safety lectures, and through a variety of publications.

Even had the pilots been armed, it is unlikely that they would have used said arms. All training, all standard operating procedure, all trained instincts would have been not to resist people who, according to some reports, claimed to have bombs and clearly had edged weapons of some type. You co-operated, bought time, and hoped that the SWAT teams were up to the job.

9-11 changed the rules. It changed the mindset of the bureaucracy in Washington, it changed the mindset of the suits in the corporate offices, and it re-affirmed the opinion of the rules held by many line-types in the flight community. There were a few who did change their mind, but many already had questioned the rules as they stood, especially those who actually had to deal with the public, the nuts, and the terrorists in person instead of from a comfortable distance.

Before, people were coddled and placated, and air rage and other travesties had become a serious problem. No one dared interfere, since the rules said not to do so, and in many cases those who did help the flight crews faced possible criminal charges for assault or worse. I can recall one case where when someone who apparently developed severe problems on a flight was subdued for the safety of all, and died while subdued. Never mind that a clear and present danger was presented to the aircraft (I seem to recall that the passenger wanted to open a door, among other things), the fellow passenger who responded and helped hold the “distraught” passenger down was charged with manslaughter or something similar. Today, if that had happened they would be a hero. Since it happened pre-9-11, they were a killer, named and shamed in a media that leaped on this story of vigilante justice. Cough, choke, wheeze.

Given the climate and conditioning of the times, having armed pilots would likely not have made a difference on 9-11. It can make a difference now. Passengers are now being taught that they can and should react to problems in the plane, as has been demonstrated by passengers in several planes. It works, just ask Shoebomber Reid. Air rage and other problems are down too, just check the crime statistics and talk to the flight crews. It is creeping back up as some complacency sets in and we are once again being told to let the professionals handle it, but that too can and will change.

Arming the pilots is a good first step, but it needs to be taken further. I put in, both officially and unofficially, a way to greatly increase the number of armed guards on flights. The fact is, there are a lot of government travelers who are ex-military or otherwise trained with weapons. There are a lot of retired military and law-enforcement people out there, or others who have specialized training. Create an auxiliary force similar to military and security police augmenters, and let them fly armed too. There is no reason not to take advantage of this trained pool to augment and expand “the proper authorities.” Of course, I was not surprised that this suggestion was rejected.

Then again, I feel that all citizens should be able to travel armed. Robert Heinlen got it so very right when he said that “An Armed Society Is A Polite Society.” I doubt that we will ever get things that far under a Justice Department that seems to take a dim view of personal liberty, but I can hope.

Go read this excellent post, and see what you think.

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