Passenger allegedly tries to enter airliner cockpit, FBI says

Sacremento Bee ^ | Published 5:00 p.m. PDT Monday, July 1, 2002 | Editorial Staff

[vannrox]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A woman passenger allegedly tried to enter the cockpit of a Southwest Airlines jet in flight Monday but she was seized and turned over to local authorities for a mental evaluation, the FBI said.

Sacramento-bound Flight 2060 turned around shortly after a 10:30 a.m. takoff from Los Angeles International Airport because a woman "began interfering with the flight crew," which is a federal violation, said Laura Bosley, an FBI spokeswoman.

[tracer]

I would hope that you wouldn't have waited to be convinced, like them, that death waas imminent and that there was nothing left to lose by resisting.

After being herded along with 150 other poor souls by four punks with small edged weapons. And after standing by and watching them take over the cockpit and slit the throat of a flight attendant and possibly others.

This "Let's Roll" hero folk myth deserves to go the way of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. At least those two are harmless and could be expected to be believed in by children....

[Fabozz]

"Perhaps she heard that cockpit personnel drink free."

Only on America West. Southwest is a no-frills airline where the cockpits are strictly BYOB.

[varon]

"I""She tried to gain access to the cockpit and had to be physically restrained," she said. "It did not appear to be terrorist-related."

Perhaps she wanted to join the "Mile High Club" and wanted the captain to do the initiation ;-)

[Salvation]

I wonder if SouthWest has the cockpit door strengthening apparatus installed yet?

Southwest has the best safety record of any airline. This is only the second incident that I have heard about.

[Pistolshot]

It's amazing how many wannabe tough-guys crawl out of the woodwork. I guess these are the same..."shoot em and drag em in the house." pundits who have never had a violent confrontation and seen way too many movies.

As for the Flight 93 "myth", I would rather those people be remembered for what has been played for the families. They heard heroes. That's enough for me.

[tracer]

Agreed. Sorry to be so jaded..........

[Aleksandar Vojvoda]

Southwest has the best safety record of any airline. This is only the second incident that I have heard about.

But did Southwest install the post-9/11 door strengtheners or are they waiting for federal money?

[PoisedWoman]

This woman did not just become "mentally-ill" the minute after boarding the plane

Exactly. She may be part of some terrorist or hijacking scheme. Is she big enough to overpower pilot? Was she armed? Or carrying radio transmitter equipment? Too many unanswered questions in this article. If I were on that plane, I'd want someone to overpower her immediately. But bashing her face to a pulp would unoubtedly be deemed unnecessary and you'd pay for it Scruffdog.

[Salvation]

Southwest is a free-of-debt airline. One of the reasons why I use them. They accepted no money in the government bail-out. And YES they are up to snuff on all the security stuff, including the doors. They had cash!

[Aleksandar Vojvoda]

Southwest is a free-of-debt airline. One of the reasons why I use them. They accepted no money in the government bail-out. And YES they are up to snuff on all the security stuff, including the doors. They had cash!

I am not so sure that Southwest didn't accept the US government reimbursement for the shutdown of the airports. The door modifications could be accomplished fairly simply by any airline that possessed a machine shop and the means to perform the modifications. Southwest may be debt free,but they have the largest stock float out there of ANY airline.Also,a grounding of the 737 fleet would hurt them terribly. All said,I believe that Southwest is the best employee motivator out of all of the airlines.

[Aleksandar Vojvoda]

They accepted no money in the government bail-out.

Actually,Southwest accepted $144 million in direct payment.

Airline Bailout Payments Announced Layoffs Alaska $46 million 0 America West $60 million 2,000 AMR (American + TWA) $450 million 20,000 Continental $191 million 12,000 Delta $327 million 13,000 Northwest $249 million 10,000 Southwest $144 million 0 United $391 million 20,000 U.S. Airways $160 million 11,000 TOTAL, Top 9 Carriers $2.02 billion 88,000 TOTAL, All 111 Carriers $2.43 billion 96,000 Sources: Bailout Payments: U.S. Department of Transportation (updated 10/18/01) Layoffs: AFL-CIO (updated 10/25/01)

[Salvation]

I stand corrected.

[goldstategop]

And Norman Mineta and John "No Draw" McGaw still say NO to armed pilots. Hmmm.

[jsraggmann]

Your reaction is the only reasonable one! Anyone that makes a move to the cockpit must be stopped, by whatever means necessary. We are not fooling around with these a$$holes anymore. Some folks simply don't understand that the events of 11 Sep. changed America. Forever!