How do we prevent airline
hijackings? Already we're hearing
proposals to put plainclothes sky
marshals back on
board--presumably to shoot it out
with bad guys. After all, the end
of skyjackings to Cuba roughly
coincided with the arrival of the
first generation of sky
marshals...or was it Fidel's
jailing of a few of these
just-arrived revolutionaries? All
I am sure of is gunfire and
aircraft are a deadly
combination, no matter who fires
first.
Improved airport security is
another way to make planes safer.
But eventually the perceived
threat decreases while the
impatience of passengers
increases. Once these two lines
cross we end up back where we
were Tuesday morning. And, of
course, it's impossible to keep
all knives off airplanes unless
the meals are changed to Jell-O
and PowerBars.
WHAT WE NEED is a way
to make planes impossible to
hijack. My friend Steve Kirsch
thinks he has just such an idea,
using mostly proven,
off-the-shelf technology. We
started trading e-mails about
this Wednesday morning and after
about three exchanges, I decided
this is something I need to share
with the AnchorDesk community for
your comment.
First, however, an
introduction is in order. Steve
is best known as the founder of
Infoseek, the search engine and
Web portal he sold to Disney
while the selling was good.
Previously, Steve has founded
several other companies,
including Mouse Systems and Frame
Technology--he describes himself
as a "serial
entrepreneur." His newest
company is called Propel and
creates software to eliminate
database bottlenecks.
Steve and his family also put
tremendous energy into do-gooder
work. A few years ago, he used a
million of his own dollars, got
several million of Bill Gates'
dollars, and raised other
millions in order to save the
United Way in San Jose from a
huge budget deficit.
ANYWAY, HERE'S STEVE'S IDEA,
which is based on the fact that
all modern-day planes have global
positioning systems (GPS) and are
capable of landing on autopilot.
"(Install) 'safe mode'
panic buttons that put the plane
on forced autopilot that cannot
be overridden, except in special
circumstances," Steve says.
He'd have them mounted in the
cockpit, one for each side, with
additional optional buttons in
crew areas on each side of the
plane in both the forward and aft
cabins.
Once a plane is in safe mode,
suggests Steve, it would randomly
select one of the 10 nearest
airports capable of accommodating
that plane type, and
automatically land the aircraft
there.
"This technique works
because you take both the pilots
and the terrorists out of a
control situation," he
explains. "A terrorist can
no longer threaten the pilot to
'Do this or I will kill people'
because the terrorist knows that
the pilot can't accommodate the
demand no matter what."
UNDER STEVE'S PLAN, the
terrorist can't get what he
wants. His only option then is to
kill all the people on the plane,
and if his only objective is loss
of life, a plane is a mighty
tough target when there are
easier ones (like buses)
available.
Bottom line: there's no more
motivation to hijack a plane. All
that the hijacker could
accomplish is causing the plane
to land at a randomly selected
airport.
"In fact, it's much worse
than hijacking a bus because in
the plane case, the hijacker is
completely locked up and directly
transported to a random jail
location that he can't plan
for," Steve notes.
Under what circumstances could
forced safe mode be overridden?
Further details (including more
about his idea) are on Steve's
Web site at www.skirsch.com,
but here are some highlights.
- Safe mode disables on
touchdown so the pilot
can raise flaps, put on
the brakes, and reduce
the throttle.
- Safe mode can be disabled
twice per flight if the
pilot keys in a 4-digit
recall code within 20
seconds of the safe
button being pushed. Each
pilot has his own 4-digit
code that can be used
only once per flight. So
disabling two false
alarms requires the
cooperation of both
pilots. There are audio
warnings in the cockpit
as well as lights
flashing when someone
hits the safe button. If
there are further panic
button presses after
that, the plane will be
forced down.
- The pilot is allowed to
manually vary the
altitude of the plane
between 15,000 and 40,000
feet above ground level,
even when safe mode is
engaged, to enable the
pilot to maneuver around
obstacles and some
weather. The pilot can
also inform the autopilot
of weather areas to
avoid.
- As soon as a panic button
has been pressed, whether
accidental or not, ground
crews are notified.
The big benefit of Steve's
proposal is not necessarily that
it is ever used, but that just a
belief that it exists and works
would be enough to prevent
skyjackings. In this way, I see
safe-mode jetliners as
accomplishing what time-lock
safes did for convenience stores
and fast-food joints. Sure you
can rob them--but only if you are
willing to hang around 10 or 20
minutes for the safe to open.
Steve's plan likewise takes the
incentive out of skyjacking.
Steve is hoping that someone
out there in AnchorDesk-land can
punch holes in his idea or,
alternately, help present it to
the FAA, the airlines, aircraft
manufacturers, the pilot's union,
passenger organizations, and
others who might help make our
skies safer. Please leave
comments on the TalkBack board
and we'll see where this goes.
Note to readers: We will be
discussing this idea with Steve,
as well as talking about some of
the privacy
issues I raised
yesterday, on Friday's R & D
Radio Hour show at noon PT. To
listen, tune in www.cnetradio.com.
Will Steve's plan
eliminate skyjackings? What other
ideas do you have? TalkBack to
me.
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