Marvolo
Avenger
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2006
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So anytime a plane is hijacked we kill everyone on the plane?
They have engineers and scientists who determine probable casualties and fallout if planes go down in certain ares. The airliners have protocal they follow in the event of every imaginable situation. This is somewhat of a rundown of how it goes. When the tower loses contact with a plane they are by law required to contact the government. They work with the government to make sure beyond a shadow of a doubt it isn't mechanical failure. After all available options have been ticked off and they have confirmed it isn't a mechanical failure the government scrambles jets to get a view of the plane and attempt to make visual contact. If the cockpit is empty they report that and try to get a view in the cabin and report that. If the pilot is at the controls and nothing hinky is going on they will attempt to make visual contact with the pilots of the jet. If the pilot isn't at the controls and it is someone else they report that. While all this back and forth is going on the government has people working to determine how to best diffuse the situation. Shooting is and has always been a last resort. That won't change. And by last resort I mean the people who are capable of making an informed decision about the way to save the most lives has made the call. Then they report that to the people who give the order. This all happens very quickly.
Shooting down a plane is always at the end of the options list. As it should be. I am not saying we should just shoot down a plane. What I am saying is that by the time the government gives the order to shoot down the plane it has already been determined how many will die and the fallout if they don't. It is an informed decision based on protocal and imperical data and people who know what will happen. And yes with the wonders of engineering, and R&D we are capable of knowing what will happen and how many will die if a plane should hit an area so when they decide to shoot down a plane they do in fact know whether it will save more lives as opposed to leaving the plane in the air.
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