Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Scenario 2

The hijackers gained access to the cockpit using threats or stronger forms of coercion.

"According to a U.S. patent document, aviation giant Boeing has actually developed remote-control technology for flying an airliner, which—at least in theory—could have prevented the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon that killed nearly 3,000 people."

While this scenario is not likely because it would have given the pilot time to send a mayday, it is worth considering because it offers an interesting twist on the lock out theory. No doubt pilots are instructed that under no circumstances will they open the cockpit door in the event of such a situation. However, human nature being what it is, a lockout option on the navigation system could have existed giving the Captain another choice. By complying with the hijackers demands the short-term problem could have been solved, while still insuring the hijackers would not be able to fly the aircraft.

In this scenario the hijackers gain access to the cockpit using the threat or act of murder to coerce the pilot into opening the door. For example a stewardess activates the intercom and the hijacker tells the pilot he has thirty seconds to open the door or he’ll kill the crewmember. If the pilot does not respond appropriately, a gunshot is heard and stewardess #2 reports what happened and the cycle is repeated. If the anti hijacking program had a protocol whereby the pilot(s) could have entered a code enabling the uninterruptable navigation system to kick in, the opportunity would have existed for the pilot to activate it before opening the door. At this point the pilots might have been incapacitated, and a terrorist with flight training could have taken the controls. Again, the aircraft would not have responded to their commands. They would have been locked out. If the pilot(s) was still lucid or later became so he might have explained that the only way to return control of the aircraft would be to call the airlines, open a safe at origin or destination and enter the stand down password. If the hijackers were unwilling to do this they could have seen no viable option other than let the airplane fly out into the Pacific and crash when it ran out of gas.