..as most of you know by now, the hijackers were armed with knives, and that at least 1 in each plane was trained to fly those kind of planes

but they said on tv that pilots can type in this 4 digit code that would indicated a hijacking but none of the 4 planes did this

i think that the hijackers got on the plane, went straight to the cockpit, killed the pilots and took over from there without telling every one

Last night I spent some time with a friend who is a flight attendant for an airline based in a Middle Eastern country, and who I see whenever she's in New York. She was supposed to leave yesterday, but obviously did not (in fact, her crew was told that even if airports re-open today, their airline and others from that part of the world probably will have to wait a day or more longer). She told me about a day-long briefing she'd been in with officials of the airline and her flight crew.

She made a convincing argument -- based on what her captain had said in the briefing -- that the planes were almost certainly flown from the beginning by the hijackers; that is, that they most likely took control while the planes were still on the ground. That, of course, before today's evidence of hijackers' attendance at a commercial flight school in Florida, which makes it seem even more a possibility.

Aloha

well her e are my thoughts

I asked my dad about this
he is a retired United Captain and use to fly fighters in the AirForce was also a chosen Thunderbird pilot. he has a pretty amazing aviation background.

the one reprot said that they overpowered the flight crew in the air ?

I do not think they had the knowledge to take the planes off and comunicate with the tower and creww without soemone noticing so most liely they did it while in the air
once going they most likely grabbed the crew got control of them
how they got into cockpit who knows ??
but they got the planes while in air .
My dad was saying that he could teach anybody to fly the plane once in air with a weeks training to do what they did
basically turn the plane and hit a building is not precission flying
yes they had some training maybe more than we know maybe less.

if overpowered they would not have had time to hit in the code
yes it could be they took off the planes but I would doubt it

Our security at some airports is rather lax compared to the UK. As one expert put it, if they weren't working at airport security, they'd be flipping burgers. Many of these jobs are minimum wage. Some times background checks aren't even done.

To fly between the Shetland Islands & the Orkneys in the UK, I had to take the lens off my camera, take out the batteries, and take all the film out of the little plastic cans.

Of the US airports I've been through, Hawaii seemed to have the best security.

Originally posted by Honu
how they got into cockpit who knows ??Actually, I just heard a report -- and who knows whether it's true -- that on one of the planes (I think it was the one that went down in PA) a microphone was left open so controllers heard conversations onboard. Supposedly, the hijackers threatened to kill -- or perhaps did kill -- each flight attendant until the crew opened the cockpit door.

Again, just a report but at least one possibility. A very frightening possibility.

Originally posted by JayC
Actually, I just heard a report -- and who knows whether it's true -- that on one of the planes (I think it was the one that went down in PA) a microphone was left open so controllers heard conversations onboard. Supposedly, the hijackers threatened to kill -- or perhaps did kill -- each flight attendant until the crew opened the cockpit door.

Again, just a report but at least one possibility. A very frightening possibility.

Aloha

man that would be scary
I was asking my dad about this and he was sayign that they are told not to comply with the hijackers over stuff like this and they would not have opened the doors for that ???
but agian who knows when someone is faced with that scene
man it is just so horrible.
he was also telling me the doors are not very secure and can be broken into
the other thing might have been that they acted as if it was an emergency ??
which a pilot would usually come back to see what is up
if they called a pilot back and they walked past and got one from behind and then rushed the open cockpit this would be my thoughts
again a scary thing

guess we will have to wait and see ;(
I am stemaing about this though hope we send a serious message

Our security at some airports is rather lax compared to the UK

my opnion about this is that the security is tighter becuase for many years we have had to deal with constant terrorist activities by various factions of the ira. especially if, as i was, you are resident in london.