Fwd: Technology to end Terrorist Hijackings

--- In TYR@y..., Roleigh Martin <roleigh@p...> wrote:
excerpts...

http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2812283,00.html

Silicon Valley's plan to stop skyjackings--all of them
David Coursey,
Executive Editor, AnchorDesk
Friday, September 14, 2001

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.

...

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.

[ http://www.skirsch.com/ ]

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.

...
--- End forwarded message ---