Mike Schumann wrote:

We would probably be a lot better off with no weapons or locks
on board any aircraft at all, and rely on the passengers to
keep or retake control. No one will ever sit by and meekly
permit a hijacking again after 9/11.

Something as simple as inserting the phrase "You may be called upon by
the crew to help subdue or incapacitate individuals posing a threat to
the safety and security of the plane" could have made all the
difference in cancelling the plans of the hijackers, had such a phrase
been implimented before 9-11.

Immediately after 9-11 there is no doubt that the intent of such a
phrase was clear in the minds of the flying public, and institutiing
such an annoucement would have easily been superior to all the
subsequent anti-terrorist mechanisms and proceedures put into place on
planes and at airports since 9-11. Instead such a phrase remains
absent, and in time confusion and uncertainty will creep back into the
psycology of the average passenger when (or if) faced with another
9-11 type situation in the future.

The potential of hijacking for suicidal purposes has clearly been a
recognized for some time prior to 9-11. The suicidal plunge of Egypt
Air flight 990 in 1999 should have been a clear warning of what was to
come:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=25523

If the more recent crash of an Egypt Air plane a few weeks ago in the
Red Sea was also suicide you can be sure it will never be revealed as
such because the flight recorders are being analyzed by Egyptian
authorities:

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentSe...=1074160582297

"Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Mohamed Shafiq Zaki said Egypt
had the technical means to analyse the data from the flight recorder,
while personnel from U.S. plane manufacturer Boeing would act as
observers in the investigation. Egypt has asserted its sovereign
right to command the crash inquiry and has defended its air safety
record against allegations that Switzerland banned Flash Airlines from
its air space because of safety violations. Zaki said: "If it turns
out there was a flaw in the plane, we will announce that straight away
without any embarrassment."

(Note that he did not say "indications of intentional pilot actions
will be announced straight away without any embarrassment.")

Is there anyone from Egypt that reads (or can post to) R.T.A? Are
Egyptians allowed to have internet access? I'm curious to get the
opinion from a real Egyption as to why the idea of a suicidal Egyption
pilot is do dangerous to the stability of their society.