Fear Of Flying

[soapbox]

In 2000, 41,800 people died in US traffic fatalities . In an average of any two months, the US highway death toll surpasses the amount of those who were killed in the horror of September 11th. Today alone, 114 more will perish.

 

Yes, our airplanes are still way too vulnerable to terrorist acts. This will take some time to change. However, there is a limited supply of terrorists; so I doubt we'll see this sort of thing happen frequently.

 

I don't want to belittle this terrible tragedy in any way; but with our airlines on the brink of going under, I think some perspective is needed. Personally, I plan to continue to travel by air when it is appropriate.

[Slowly]

Going to Reno next month to celebrate my birthday. Flying on whatever airline is still in business by then. Current events have not changed the fear of flying I already had. Casey

[Bucktunes]

Well, I agree with both of you, but unfortunately a lot of people who would be travelling to Las Vegas have decided to either postpone or cancel their trips. Hotel occupancy here is less than half of what it would normally be this time of year. Thousands of hotel workers have already been laid off, including musicians. Many shows have been cancelled, lounges closed, work weeks shortened. The economic ripple effect is sure to spread through the rest of the city soon.

 

To make matters worse, apparently a lot of people consider Vegas to be a possible target for another terrorist attack, and that's keeping even more people away. Just tonight the traffic on the strip was more typical of an early weeknight than a weekend. Who says Vegas is recession proof! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/frown.gif

 

Peace all,

Steve

[Rod S]

I've never had a fear of flying, and to be honest with you, i'ts business as usual for me. I grew up in a (and lived in other) fairly violent city (by most american standards anyways), so I've seen and experienced a share amount. However, this changes my perspective on terrorist taking over the plane for me. If I now expect these guys are using the plane as a bomb, I'm more inclined to play the hero if I'm going to die anyways; I might as well try something to save myself. I think the general wisdom had been to wait for the terrorists to land the plane wherever they wanted and sit it out.

[Bucktunes]

Well, among other things I'm sure the public's conditioned response to a hijacked plane will be different from now on. Now that we know these ruthless creatures don't care about lives (including their own), why should anyone believe they will keep their end of the bargain if we let them have their way with the plane?

 

Personally, I'm in favor of locking the cockpit from the inside and making it impossible for anyone outside to even open the door. Sure, that would cause some inconvenience, but there's always a tradeoff between security and convenience. I'll bet most people would opt for more security about now. That, and keeping a plainclothed, armed cop on every flight. I doubt most passengers would mind kicking in another dollar or two to cover this, and it would relieve a lot of passenger anxiety.

 

Peace all,

Steve

[Slowly]

Originally posted by SWBuck1074@aol.com:

Well, among other things I'm sure the public's conditioned response to a hijacked plane will be different from now on. Now that we know these ruthless creatures don't care about lives (including their own), why should anyone believe they will keep their end of the bargain if we let them have their way with the plane?

 

Personally, I'm in favor of locking the cockpit from the inside and making it impossible for anyone outside to even open the door. Sure, that would cause some inconvenience, but there's always a tradeoff between security and convenience. I'll bet most people would opt for more security about now. That, and keeping a plainclothed, armed cop on every flight. I doubt most passengers would mind kicking in another dollar or two to cover this, and it would relieve a lot of passenger anxiety.

 

Peace all,

Steve

 

I would just go with the tightened security, never shut off access to control of the plane. I don`t trust the damn pilots either, Yes I have a fear of flying, but I do it anyway. Casey

[mwisniewski]

Originally posted by soapbox:

In 2000, 41,800 people died in US traffic fatalities . In an average of any two months, the US highway death toll surpasses the amount of those who were killed in the horror of September 11th. Today alone, 114 more will perish.

 

Soapbox, that's a horrible statistic, but it's slightly out of context.

 

To put that statistic in perspective we really need to know the total number of people who commute by ground transport/year and the number who fly/year, so we could see a % of the total numbers. That would give a truer picture of the situation.

[joegerardi]

Originally posted by SWBuck1074@aol.com:

W...That, and keeping a plainclothed, armed cop on every flight. I doubt most passengers would mind kicking in another dollar or two to cover this, and it would relieve a lot of passenger anxiety.

 

Peace all,

Steve

 

Steve:

Wouldn't work, that's why it's on assorted flights, not every one.

 

If a BG with nothing to lose KNOWS there's a cop on the plane, armed even with a knife, all he need do is grab a child and threaten to kill the child unless the LEO gives up his/her weapon on the spot. Now what you have is an exposed LEO, AND an armed terrorist. Afraid that the LEO will still try to do his job, the expedient thing is to kill him/her on the spot, and now there's no one trained to deal with the situation, armed BG's, and a dead LEO. They have then crossed the line of violence, and thus their direction becomes easier to carry out their plan, because there's only a death sentence waiting for them is they're caught.

 

At least in the current scenario, whether there is an LEO on the plane is still a mystery to everyone, and it makes the LEO's job a little easier, and the safety of everyone just a *little* bit more secure.

[soapbox]

Originally posted by mwisniewski:

Soapbox, that's a horrible statistic, but it's slightly out of context.

 

To put that statistic in perspective we really need to know the total number of people who commute by ground transport/year and the number who fly/year, so we could see a % of the total numbers. That would give a truer picture of the situation.

 

mwisniewski, you raised a good point, but unfortunately there's no way to monitor every time someone gets into a car. I suppose a guesstimate could be made using reported car mileage to insurance companies vs. mileage on airplanes; but no matter which way you look at it, the situation will always have a little bit of "apples vs. oranges" element to it.

 

The thing that clears the comparison back up for me again is the fact that there are often years with zero commercial airline deaths in the US. I feel certain that if we curtailed our driving to match the amount of airline travel which occurs, we would still never reach a level of zero traffic fatalities in any given year.

 

This message has been edited by soapbox on 09-24-2001 at 01:26 AM