"Jack Davis" wrote in message
...

Thanks for the tip - I'll try to remember that.


No charge.



Give your brain a chance, boy!


That's good advice, you should heed it yourself.



Suppose someone calls me on the
interphone and says he's a FAM and starts feeding me some BS about a
"situation"? How do I know for sure unless I've met him/her
previously?


How do you know what for sure? If the person on the phone is truly a
marshal you have a "situation". If the person is posing as a marshal do you
not also have a "situation"?



Would I be willing to risk the lives of my passengers and
crew on what could possibly be a diversion?


How is the risk increased by not knowing if the caller is truly a marshal?



How do I really know what's going on back there?


You don't. Why would you need to?



For all I know there could be six
terrorists poised at the door and I could be wasting valuable time
talking to some lying schmuck on the phone. Think about it and tell
me how you would handle the situation.


Schmuck or marshal makes no difference, if someone on the phone tells you
there's a "situation" in the cabin then there's a "situation" in the cabin.
Advise ATC that you have a "situation" and divert to the nearest suitable
field. Don't open the cockpit door for anyone, let security forces on the
ground sort out the "situation".



And, in the unlikely event that an FA has to knock someone in the head
with a fire extinguisher (present company comes to mind) because
he/she feels that another 9-11 style attack is in the works, I'd be
all kinds of ****ed-off if the FA accidentally clocked a FAM and
Abdullah is now free to take over the jet!


So what was the marshal doing that caused the FA to believe he was about to
initiate another 9/11 style attack?