[FITZ]

How very sad. If the hijackers only had knives and cardboard cutters, it's too bad the passengers didn't overpower them. Even if you got a few stabs wounds, it'd be better than what happened.

[IncPen]

Speculation like yours begs the question, "What if they had the knives to the throats of a couple of 12 year old girls...?"

[greeneyes]

one of the newsreports that i heard stated numerous passengers were stabbed and killed.

[Anamensis]

I'm sure if they'd known what was up, many of them would have. But this is so unprecedented, they must have hoped it was something far less ominous... a couple of losers hoping to get amnesty in the States or a free flight to Canada perhaps.

[ambrose]

1) I don't think you've ever faced someone who is trained at using a knife; 2) I doubt people knew their options were resistance or death. They probably figured their options were death or cooperate and have a long flight to Libya, and then be released after Israel lets some terrorist prisoners out of jail, or something like that... That's the usual hijack scenario...

[Critter]

I think that most people would have no idea what the terrorists planned to do. But you can rest assured that after today, any terrorist with a box cutter will be hijacking at the extreme risk of being ripped to shreds by a bunch of scared and angry passengers.

[ppaul]

Because of our national firearm phobia, not one innocent person on those planes was allowed to keep and bear arms - thanks to government regulations. Had the flight attendants and crew been required to carry a sidearm, and trained in its proper use, might the events of the past 24 hours been different? We'll never know. </font size>

But what will the result be?
I'm willing to bet more restrictions on freedom. More disarming of law-abiding citizens. For "safety."