[grellis]

When I saw the first plane hit the tower, the first thing I said to the wife, I wonder why the people on the plane allowed that to happen.

Oh for crying out loud, sheesh....let's consider for a moment: Up until that day, our country had never had a kamikaze incident involving a jet on our own soil...kamikaze missions had pretty much become a thing of the past after WWII...kamikaze missions usually involved combat aircraft, not commercial jetliners...Americans flying on commercial jets in domestic American flights had never been hijacked before...now, where was it that those folks were supposed to be trained to react to that particular situation?

One inch knife, huh? How many of them? Just one weapon, is that right? Even so, a couple of hijackers working in concert could slice the necks of two or three passengers--even if all they had was just one knife. That might give the other passengers pause, no? Always keeping in mind that, unlike the passengers of Flight 93, those people had NO REASON to believe that the whole flight (and thousands of lives on the ground) was in jeopardy.

But I bet you're some kind of hero. Good for you. Hope that works out okay.

BTW--"scheduled programming" is just my way of pointing out that we've strayed from the topic.

[Tarpon]

Hijackings were very real, especially by Islamics, were they any other kinds? When I traveled the world we were always aware of the possibilities. Iran was one of my major places of business. The fact that terrorist slamming planes into building had not happened doesn’t mean anything.

You obviously don’t have much knowledge of the real danger posed by a one inch knife, cut yes, kill, not likely ... providing you are fighting not sitting on your hands. The man armed with a brief case has the better end than the man with the one inch knife. Planes are very crowded spaces. Executive protection agencies all tell you to access the danger, access the odds, and if cornered act.

While the outcome may not be you survive, see flight 93, the odds are you are doing the right thing fighting back and not submitting to hijackers. Or for that matter, to the man with a gun trying to kill as many people as possible. It sounds as if some VT students had the presence of mind to do just that, defend, blocking and barricading doors.

No I am not a hero, I am a realist who traveled the world where terror was real, way before terror was common in the American language. No one knows how they will react to a life threatening situation, but the training on how to defend yourself can save you or others from certain death. That teaching does not start with hide. When you deplaned at Tehran airport, the guards with their AK-47s were there for a reason.