Sometimes a Great Notion. Sometimes a Complete Crock

[tellner]

Some cynical curmudgeonly thoughts on a scheme to make us all safer by fitting air travelers with remote-control shock collars, err, "Electro-Muscular Disruption Technology".

 

[bowser666]

This thought is absurd. How many malfunctions are potential ? Then it will be lawsuit city! If the security on the ground is decent then there should be no problems. They should also have a mandatory Air Marshal ( undercover) on each flight. Get rid of half the useless TSA and put marshalls on planes.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Now this is funny.
Gee, I wonder why air travel and tourism is down?
Draconian security, rates soaring, fingerprinting, delays, long waits, xray scanners, invasive searches, lack of privacy, riffled and stolen luggage and now they think mandatory shock collars are good?

Maybe they can just require we fly in the nude, tied to our seats, and sedated next?

 

[Jdokan]

How about large steel type cages similar to rollercoaster rides that would lock you into your seat.....that would keep the peace....they'd open once the plane landed...if the plane crashed, users would be locked into their respective seat numbers identification would be easier...Hey I think we might be on to something here......
ya...no...thoughts???

 

[jks9199]

This thought is absurd. How many malfunctions are potential ? Then it will be lawsuit city! If the security on the ground is decent then there should be no problems. They should also have a mandatory Air Marshal ( undercover) on each flight. Get rid of half the useless TSA and put marshalls on planes.

Being pretty conservative, there are several thousand flights a day. Sure, some are cases where the plane continues on after a layover or something like that... But, bluntly, that's a hell of a lot people you'd need. With a lot of specialized training. Not exactly cheap. (Don't forget, they're going need days off, vacations, rest cycles, etc.)

A simpler approach would be to allow law enforcement officers who choose to do so to carry their firearms on planes, without the current hurdles and hoops.

 

[jks9199]

Well, if they sedated us, they could stack us like cordwood, and probably triple the carrying capacity of each flight... All that wasted space where people are sitting upright could be filled with paying passengers.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Personally, I think all these "precautions" are a bit crazy. I read a story where a photographer had his expensive camera taken and destroyed by inept DHS people because they didn't believe him when he said his DSLR didn't have built in memory. (Most don't).

I'll rent a car and drive cross country (and take 3-4 days doing it) rather than go through all that crap. It's good for Enterprise, bad for Southwest.

 

[arnisador]

My guess is that they are floating this idea so that when they bring out their real plan it'll seem mild compared to this.

 

[Nolerama]

Yeah. They'll replace this ridiculous proposal with simple, cheap, bar code tattoos, where everyone's bar code is read by a supercomputer housed in NORAD.

They call it "The Beast."

 

[Andrew Green]

Being pretty conservative, there are several thousand flights a day. Sure, some are cases where the plane continues on after a layover or something like that... But, bluntly, that's a hell of a lot people you'd need. With a lot of specialized training. Not exactly cheap. (Don't forget, they're going need days off, vacations, rest cycles, etc.)

No kidding... that would be one hell of a expensive project.

Although to be perfectly honest the "conservative" party down there is really not all that conservative, nor is the liberal party all that liberal (as in liberty)

But all I can say is if you folks implement it I will not be flying down there anytime soon.

Although I can't see it lasting... All these remote control devices have one major flaw. They can be activated by remote control, its only a matter of time before someone reverse engineers one, or even without that they start malfunctioning.

A simpler approach would be to allow law enforcement officers who choose to do so to carry their firearms on planes, without the current hurdles and hoops.

Guns on planes just seem like a bad idea. decompression issues and lots of civilians in a crowded space, I think a better choice of weapons would be in order.

I can't see this being put into general use though, the costs would just be ridiculous to put one on every passenger. Unfortunately I can see other, cheaper, but still stupid measures being put into place.

Rigging planes to flood everything but the cockpit with a gas that knocks everyone out... definitely could see something along those lines attempted.

 

[zDom]

Its time to retire the airlines and break out the fusion-powered flying cars as seen in The Fifth Element, Back to the Future and other sci-fi flicks.

Hey, we have the flip-phone communicators as shown in Star Trek, don't we? What's the big holdup?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Now that’s an interesting idea

And what's next it will explode should you venture outside of the designated area. And don’t forget the booby traps in the on board bathroom should you stay to long…. I’m thinking a trap door

So it is a stun gun and it is remote which means a radio frequency.. Gee that couldn’t be used, abused or accidentally set off now could it?

 

[FearlessFreep]

I'll rent a car and drive cross country (and take 3-4 days doing it) rather than go through all that crap. It's good for Enterprise, bad for Southwest.

I'm driving from CoSprings to Pasadena in September for pretty much these kinda reasons... just too obnoxious and getting worse

 

[Kacey]

I drove from Denver to Dallas last December - that was due in part to crap from the airlines, and in part to my refusal to put my dog in cargo... no matter what they say about the conditions there.

 

[theletch1]

Yeah. They'll replace this ridiculous proposal with simple, cheap, bar code tattoos, where everyone's bar code is read by a supercomputer housed in NORAD.

They call it "The Beast."

Close, but no cigar. It's micro-chips, not tattoos.

 

[Andy Moynihan]

Now that’s an interesting idea

And what's next it will explode should you venture outside of the designated area. And don’t forget the booby traps in the on board bathroom should you stay to long…. I’m thinking a trap door

So it is a stun gun and it is remote which means a radio frequency.. Gee that couldn’t be used, abused or accidentally set off now could it?

No no no, next it'll be two micro capsules in each carotid artery which will completely dissolve in 22 hours if you don't get the President out of New York.

Best get lookin' for my eye patch.

 

[Archangel M]

Guns on planes just seem like a bad idea. decompression issues and lots of civilians in a crowded space, I think a better choice of weapons would be in order.

A bullet decompressing a plane explosively is a myth.

On 8 May 2003 during hearings on the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program, Dan Graves of Oviedo, Florida, a DC-8 First Officer for Airborne Express, and Executive Director for the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, testified before the House Subcommittee on Aviation:

[O]ur opponents claim that a bullet piercing the pressure vessel of the aircraft will cause a catastrophic loss of the hull. There's simply no evidence to support these claims. In fact, the Israelis have had a number of incidents where terrorists have discharged small arms in the cabins of their aircraft without causing catastrophic damage to the airframe. A study by Boeing aircraft agrees. It found that one or numerous small caliber rounds piercing the vessel would not cause a catastrophic loss.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

A bullet decompressing a plane explosively is a myth.

Mythbusters busted that too I think.

 

[Brian S]

Hmmmm... I had no idea!

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

No no no, next it'll be two micro capsules in each carotid artery which will completely dissolve in 22 hours if you don't get the President out of New York.

Best get lookin' for my eye patch.

Aye we will all be needing an eye patch.