Fraternal Brothers and Sisters, My name is John Burnett. I am a DC-10 Captain for FedEx. I am also a Police Officer for the Memphis Police Department.
My purpose in writing this is to share some of
my thoughts regarding actions a pilot might consider
when faced with a modern-day hijacker. These thoughts
are outside-the-box when it comes to the way we’ve all
been trained. Neither the FAA or our companies will
suggest any of these techniques or implement them as a
part of our normal training cycles. They couldn’t for fear of lawsuits. I am distributing this via e-mail to
buddies I’ve flown with. I’m asking them to send it to
> > their circle of friends within the industry, and for you
> > to send it to yours. I know most of us have e-mail, and
> > I hope this reaches the next to face the horror of some
> > religious fanatic onboard.
> >
> > We have all had training in what to do in case
> > of a hijacking; try to keep the hijacker calm, make him
> > think you’re doing what he wants, take him where ever he
> > wants to go, etc., etc., etc. Save your passengers, your
> > crew, and your aircraft. In an emergency, you will
> > revert to that training. When our unfortunate peers were
> > faced with the screams of the Flight Attendants and
> > hijacker’s demands to open the cockpit door, their
> > training probably made them open the door. When the
> > fanatics made demands, their training told them to
> > comply as best they could. I can only wonder what their
> > thoughts were as they left the cockpit and were tied up
> > in the back of the plane; what they thought as they
> > descended over New York. I hope the fanatics had to kill
> > them in their seats and drag their dead bodies out of
> > the cockpit. But, I bet they did as they were trained to
> > do.
> >
> > As you look back over recent hijackings, FedEx,
> > Egypt Air, and now the September 11th hijackings, you
> > see a perpetrator who, for one reason or another wants
> > to take over the airplane and kill himself. Each of
> > these hijackers, except for the FedEx incident, were
> > successful. They took over the airplane and killed
> > everyone onboard. If you’re following the news programs
> > today, you hear a lot about how we could let these
> > hijackers learn to fly. You would think if knowing how
> > to fly would guarantee a successful hijacking, Auburn
> > Calloway (the FedEx hijacker) would have been a hijacker
> > success story. He was a Navy pilot, a martial arts
> > student, a fellow FedEx crewmember, and he took all the
> > weapons he needed: hammers, knives and a spear gun. He
> > didn’t have to overcome any Flight Attendants or demand
> > they open the cockpit door. He just went back to his
> > bag, took out his hammer came back into the cockpit and
> > started crushing skulls. The crewmembers on that flight
> > didn’t worry about Flight Attendants, they didn’t worry
> > about passengers. All three pilots left the cockpit and
> > fought a hand-to-hand, life-or-death battle. To survive
> > today’s hijacker, you cannot worry about your
> > passengers; you cannot worry about your Flight
> > Attendants. You must develop a mind-set that everyone
> > onboard, including yourself, is already dead. Because,
> > if the hijacker is successful in taking over your
> > airplane, not only you, your crew, your passengers and
> > your aircraft are lost, but thousands on the ground are
> > at risk.
> >
> > One of the reasons the FedEx crew survived, is
> > the extraordinary actions of the copilot. Although he
> > had brain injury, the copilot took the DC-10 and
> > immediately executed a half-roll. This maneuver took the
> > hijacker off his feet as the Captain and S/O were
> > struggling with him. During a point in the maneuver, the
> > hijacker, Captain and S/O were thrown back behind the
> > cockpit door. When he righted the airplane, the F/O then
> > left his seat and joined the fight in the galley area of
> > the plane. It was only after the Captain determined the
> > hijacker was subdued, he returned to the cockpit and
> > flew the airplane to landing.
> >
> > Very few of us have had to confront true evil.
> > Fewer still have seriously considered taking the life of
> > another human being. I believe this is the reason the
> > FedEx crew did not kill their attacker. The crew’s
> > heroism that day is beyond belief and any action that
> > leads to a safe landing and recovery cannot be argued
> > with. But, when the Captain left the F/O and S/O,
> > thinking the situation was under control, he was
> > mistaken. The F/O and S/O had sustained serious, life-threatening
> > injuries. The hijacker had not.
> > As the
> > Captain flew the aircraft, the hijacker, who had
> > surrendered, began the fight anew. As the airplane
> > landed, the hijacker was just moments away from
> > overcoming the two crewmembers. I mention this for your
> > consideration. I would suggest that you make the
> > conscious decision to kill anyone who tries to take your
> > airplane from you.
> >
> > Today we are at war. The hijacker who comes
> > through your cockpit door is going to kill you and
> > everyone onboard. So, how do you do that? What weapons
> > are available to us as pilots?
> >
> > The intercom.
> >
> > Command that all men come forward and fight the
> > hijackers. You have many able-bodied men onboard. They
> > are sitting in shock not knowing what to do. Command
> > they come forward and help you kill your attackers. And,
> > they will come.
> >
> > The airplane itself.
> >
> > Get the hijackers off their feet. Go into an
> > immediate dive to float them to the ceiling. Then
> > execute a 6G positive maneuver and hope they hit their
> > head or break their back as they hit the floor, galley
> > shelf, etc.
> >
> > Dump the cabin.
> >
> > Maybe one of the hijackers has a head cold.
> >
> > Pull the fire handles, shut the start levers and turn
> > the fuel valves off.
> >
> > If you loose the battle, at least the airplane
> > won’t be used as a guided missile on a kamikaze mission.
> > With luck, maybe these guys didn’t learn how to do an in-flight
> > restart. Then leave the cockpit, all
> > of you, and
> > kill your attackers. Don’t believe it when they
> > surrender. Don’t be nice to them. KILL THEM.
> >
> > Flare Gun.
> >
> > If your airplane has one, the Captain might
> > consider making sure it’s loaded and secured next to his
> > bag. I can think of nothing more satisfying than
> > watching a ball of burning phosphorous embedded into a
> > fanatic’s gut, burning its way through him.
> >
> >
> > The crash-axe.
> >
> > I would suggest you have your copilot take it
> > from it’s holder and secure it next to him so he has it
> > immediately available. Makes an excellent skull crusher.
> >
> > Your flashlight.
> >
> > The FAA use to require a 2 cell. A 3 cell Mag-Light makes
> > an excellent weapon. If your
> > maneuvers have
> > the hijackers on the floor writhing in pain, crush their
> > skulls with it.
> >
> > Your stolen hotel bic pen.
> >
> > Drive it into an attacker’s eye, ear, throat, or
> > into the area just under the jaw bone. That’s a
> > particular interesting place to drive it, because when
> > he opens his mouth to scream, you can read Hyatt
> > sticking there.
> >
> > Your hand and fingers.
> >
> > Drive your fingers into his eyes and try to feel
> > your fingernails scrape the back of his eye sockets.
> > Scoop the eyeballs out. It will confuse the hell out of
> > him when he finds himself looking at his shoes as they
> > dangle there on the ocular nerves.
> >
> > Your teeth.
> >
> > Remember Hannabal Lecter. Eat a nose, a cheek,
> > or a finger. And keep eating. Attack with all
> > viciousness. A piranha is a small fish, but it’s greatly
> > feared. A hijacker is not expecting you to eat him and
> > it might make him forget why he got on your airplane to
> > begin with. It will, at least, impress his buddies.
> >
> > Now here’s my wish-list of things the FAA could do to
> > help, especially in this time of war.
> >
> > Arm the Captain.
> >
> > The battle is not going to require any long
> > shots and a small revolver would be a good choice. It
> > would hold off the attackers long enough for you to
> > disable your aircraft. If the attackers claimed the red
> > package they were holding was a bomb, I’d shoot out the
> > door glass and hope the door would be ripped out and the
> > hijacker and his package would be sucked out. And hey,
> > if I got sucked out with him, I’d try to fly myself to
> > the hijacker look in his face and laugh at him all the
> > way to the ground.
> >
> > Invite the local Police to jumpseat Police are always
> > looking for something free.
> >
> > Donut shops use to be a favorite target for
> > robbers, until they started giving donuts to the
> > Police. Robbers don’t rob donut shops anymore. I would
> > suggest each Police Department send the FAA a list of
> > the best shots on the department and those guys and
> > their guns would be welcome on my airplane. Fill every
> > vacant seat with armed Police, give them a donut, and
> > tell them to shoot anyone who gives your Flight
> > Attendant any ****.
> >
> > Stop this silly no-knife rule.
> >
> > Make it public. Tell the public they’re welcome
> > to bring their pocket knives onboard. Then everyone will
> > bring them. When you make your intercom call for help,
> > you’ll have a dozen or more knife wielding helpers
> > trying to make sure their new Gerber tastes fanatics
> > blood. There are even a few of them who’d want to keep
> > ears as souvenirs.
> >
> > Law enforcement agencies are all aware there are
> > copy-cat criminals and fanatics. We have a number of
> > loony fanatical hate-groups here in the USA: ALF, PETA,
> > KKK, Army of God, Anti-abortionists, and the list goes
> > on. It doesn’t matter the size of your airplane. Right
> > now, as I write this, there is an anti-abortionist
> > escapee here in the Memphis area. He’s seen what
> > happened at the World Trade Center. A small commuter
> > plane would do a great job on an abortion clinic, or on
> > an animal research facility, or on a local synagogue,
> > mosque, etc., etc., etc. None of us is immune. Take some
> > time and consider your actions if this event should ever
> > happen>>