"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message
...
Per Robert Green:
That said, I have to believe that it's much, much harder to hijack a
plane
these days for a number of reasons. Passenger education (people used to
be
told to leave the hijackers alone)

IMHO that alone made the 911 scenario a one-trick pony. I don't think
the strategy lasted even an hour because when the people on the plane
over Pennsylvania found out what was up, they rushed the hijackers.

Yes, I've said that before and agree completely. For years the advice was
to cooperate with hijackers to prevent a plane crash. That advice stopped
when it became clear some hijackers were determined to do just that - crash
the plane. The passengers on MH370 were probably mostly asleep and had no
idea they were off course (it was dark) or hijacked, if that was the case.

Ironically, once the hijackers are in the cabin and lock the door, the
reinforcement of the cabin door and frame will make it hard for the
passengers to get into the cabin and do anything about it. There's clearly
evidence that at least one pilot has had people in the cabin before.

OTOH, one of the possibilities I heard cited for MH370 was that whoever
hijacked the plane ascended to 40,000+ feet for the purpose of killing
the passengers (I guess, by reducing pressure/oxygen in the passenger
area to 40,000+ feet)

I'm pretty sure in a 777 the oxygen masks descend automatically when the
pressure drops to a certain point in the cabin. I assume the designers
thought the pilots might be too busy dealing with whatever caused the
depressurization to deal with it manually.

If someone did steal that plane, it would certainly be the crime of the
century. Will it go to a chop shop? I can't imagine some other country
could repaint the plane and begin using it, not if the engines phone home
every hour. I'd certainly be sending people to every landing strip/airport
capable of landing such a plane within its flight range to "look around."
Could be the Uighurs, but since they mostly stab people to death (or so it
seems) I don't see them as having the technical skills to pull off stealing
a modern jetliner. But then again, I didn't think the 9/11 hijackers could
do what they did.

If it crashed in the ocean, enough stuff will float that eventually some of
it will reach shore somewhere. It is one of the greatest *true* mystery
stories I've ever heard of. It's like trying to prove a murder was
committed without the body.

--
Bobby G.