U.S. airline worker steals plane, takes it for flight before crashing it

Re:U.S. airline worker steals plane, takes it for flight bef... by captain_perl on Saturday August 11, 2018 @06:37PM (#17741926)

The Q400 is actually a 76-person airliner.

Most airliners don't have keys, thus rely on perimeter fences for security.

This single confused airline worker is going to cause massive inconvenience for other airline employees and increased cost to US airports and operators, similar to the suicidal Germanwings co-pilot who deliberately crashed into a mountain in 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525

Also, the impotence of F-15 chase planes was demonstrated.

They can follow an airliner over a populated area like Seattle, but then what? If the thief is confused and doesn't issue threats, then what?

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Re:U.S. airline worker steals plane, takes it for flight bef... by chriselles on Sunday August 12, 2018 @12:01AM (#17742819)

I don’t know about impotence, but I do think this will lead to further discussion around ROEs(Rules of Engagement) for shooting down recreational and commercial aircraft used as weapons.

During 9/11 the ready birds that launched were unarmed(peace dividend reduced threat posture).

I’m sure ready birds are all armed now.

I’m not sure what level of authority is required to shoot down threat aircraft, but I think it’s safe to assume that the limited time/space requires latitude be given to flight leader.

One flight pair that launched unarmed on 9/11(including one female fighter pilot) were prepared to ram the hijcked airliner if they made it in time.

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