Wireless Devices Could Foil Hijack Attempts

ErikPeterson writes Flight attendants soon may be outfitted with wireless devices that would be used to alert pilots of attempted hijackings or other in-air security threats. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it plans to require that airlines provide a way for the cabin crew to "discreetly notify" pilots "in the event of suspicious activity or security breaches in the cabin." The proposed regulation, which is not yet final, grew out of an advisory panel that the Transportation Department created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. That panel recommended that cabin crew have "a method for immediate notification to the flight deck during a suspected threat in the cabin" that would permit pilots to take appropriate action, such as beginning an immediate landing."

Comments

Flight computer overrides pilot's commands

[Anonymous Coward]

Honeywell is developing a device that will take over the controls from the pilot if the plane is heading for a restricted area. If your plane is being hijack, you will not crash into a building for sure. But if the plane is fine and the computer takes over, pray that it won't crash the plane!

Re:Uh...

[Animats]

You mean like the hi-jacking transponders the 9/11 terrorists turned off after hijacking the plane? I never knew there was such a thing until I read the 9/11 commission report. I guess it was somewhat of a secret to allow pilots to subtly notify controllers of a hijacking until the hijackers found out.

When hijacked, you're supposed to set the transponder code to 7500. That's one of those ideas left over from the days when hijackers were clueless nuts. It's never been much of a secret. Hijacking procedures are in the Airman's Information Manual, available in any bookstore. One would hope by now that the guys flying the big iron have something better available to them.

not very secret

[Eugene]

the code to signal ground controller that there's a hijack is to set 7500 on your normal transponder(there's no seperate trasponder). after you set it, you probably want to hit ident couple times to make sure people notice it. and They'll confirm with you that you are indeed want to set it at 7500. I've accidentally set it at 75xx a few times by mistake when I want to set 55xx, but those mistake were caught easily and early (duh)

This action assumes that the pilot is still at the control and have access to transponder and radio. (in the event like 9/11, hijackers know how to fly the airplane, thus bypass the security measurement)

Snake Oil Security

[innot]

Disclaimer: IAAPP (I am a Professional Pilot)

This is just one more paranoial waste of money without increasing security. Lets face it - the real security is the bullet-proof reinforced flight deck door with CCTV surveillance of the entry area.

The problem with a secret alert device is a) secrets don't remain secret if you mandate it for the entire industry and b) what is the pilot supposed to do if he gets alerted of "suspicious activity" (We have often "suspicious activities" aka unruly passengers)
The pilot can not go back to check it out. He can not just dive to the next airport because it might have been a false alarm or the situation can be resolved by the flight attendants. If every alarm would lead to an diversion the system could be easily misused for a DoS attack.
So in the end he would just have to wait until 1) someone shows up at the cockpit door and tries to force entry: Hijack (better: attempted hijack) or 2) noone shows up: Situtation resolved.

This is the same as the usless keypads on the flight deck door mandated by the FAA. Two buttons would have been enough: regular entry and emergency entry.
The security is not that only the flight attendants know the secret keycodes - with a knive to their throat they will type in the correct one anyway. The security is the video surveillance to check the area from the flight deck. (To be fair: the keypads have the advantage that passengers in search for a toilet will not accidentaly press the "emergency door bell" - which would mean immediate landing)

Back to a) Why secrets won't work: Like every equipment on board it has to be approved by the FAA which makes it expensive which results in only very few vendors offering a system. And they will offer it to any airline, including Saudia Airways, Pakistani Airways and Ariana Afghan Airways and many other. It would be naive to think that intelligent terrorists do not have contacts in the airlines and can not get access to the devices.

In the end most airlines will anyway use the loophole of some "secret" intercom procedure which they have to document and distribute to thousands of FAs and Pilots.

This is just another stupid TSA regulation in a long line of stupid TSA regulations - like not being allowed to stand in a line in front of a toilet.