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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: James C. Mc Gowan who wrote (40554)	9/18/2001 1:43:09 PM
From: benwood	Respond to of 50167

You have a lot of compelling suggestions. Just one thought -- I suspect the transponder has an "off" switch because air traffic control does not. That is, when a plane is not flying, they don't want it on their screens. Simple solution of course is that the transponder is on when the cockpit is powered up. What's so hard about that? And why can it be turned off so easily? And why was the hijack command too complicated (I heard it's a 4-digit code typed into the transponder). Should have been a hot button -- who has time to type when you are being attacked? Press now and ask questions later (in the event of a mistaken pressing), ala bank robbery secret alarm. BTW, I heard on the BBC a few nights ago that in '97 I think it was (or '99?), Al Gore headed up a commission on air travel security and concluded that our domestic security should be at least tightened to the level of international travel. Funny the first mention of this I hear is from overseas... They said that the report was pushed aside as the airlines said that people would never stand for it, and were used to cheap, simple air transportation. Pilots against better doors? What are they, morons? When in the last 20 years would a pilot have been more injured because of a more complicated, stronger door? The majority of crashes kill everybody. Plus they could design a doors that are strong but easy to open from the cockpit side. The lack of a good door led to 8 pilots dying last week...

To: James C. Mc Gowan who wrote (40554)	9/18/2001 1:43:19 PM
From: thestockrider	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50167

>>The pilots have fought reinforcing the doors in the past, as they value easier escape, in the event of a crash, This has to be a crock of bs. Doors can be opened before a crash. The reason security doors are not on us airlines is a business decision. It was pointed out on another thread that secure doors may already be an option that the Boeing company offers on its products. >>Air Traffic Control; is it true that, when a transponder is turned off(and btw, why is it that a transponder CAN be turned off, anyway) the ATC argues that it is too difficult for them to track aircraft with other instrumentation. Does this mean that if a switch is simply turned off in the cockpit, ATC has "lost" the aircraft. It appears from the time lag btw the World Trade Center attacks and the Pentagon/Pittsburg crashes, ATC was clueless for about ONE HOUR. No military jets were scrambled to protect our seat of power in Washington for ONE HOUR after the first WTC attack(8:45am WTC #1 to 9:45am Pentagon). Transponders on airliners could be automated to be on all the time. They could install two more transponders as backups. ATC Radar still tracked those planes after the transponders were shut off. That's what radar is for. Fighter jets were scrambled but too late, and I believe they flew from Massachusetts. Since the attack, fighter jets are in the air patrolling the skies over the major cities. Intercept times should be minutes. I think ATC and Air Defense are going to be a little more integrated in the future -- this might be as simple as having the Air Defense phone number on speed dial in the ATC towers and regional centers. BTW all flight schools are effectively closed now for basic in flight instruction. Lots of flight instructors out of work.