"John R Weiss" wrote:

"Gord Beaman" wrote...

So, if armed pilots thwart only ONE hijacking...

Quite true BUT. I worry about endangering those 'essential to
flight units'. Think of the ever present danger of a loaded
pistol in the comparatively small confines of an airliner cockpit
for years and years, while a steel door (or two) is fairly
innocuous. Also, as a matter of curiosity, what would you expect
to happen if a 9MM or so slug were to go through one of the
windscreens?. Aren't most glass and plastic laminated? (NESA?)

Given the circumstances under which a FFDO's weapon would be fired, I suspect
the damage done by an errant bullet would still be orders of magnitude less than
the alternative.

The program has been well thought out, the training has been given great reviews
by virtually all involved, and the sole "hard" issues remaining are either
administrative in nature or have to do with on-the-ground subjects.

Windscreens are laminated, but I don't know if they all have glass components.
The curved windscreen in the 747-400 appears to be all acrylic. Side windows
are much thinner. A 9 mm hole in a side window would probably be noisy. Given
the angles and other factors present, I can't accurately assess what would
happen to a windscreen with a shot from the inside. I suspect that in many
cases the bullet (especially if a frangible round) would be deflected, and the
windscreen would maintain most of its integrity.

Thank you John, a nice calm reasoned answer among all this
hysterical hyperbole. So then, if they aren't laminated, how are
they deiced?...a high percentage of military a/c use glass/clear
conductive material/glass laminate called NESA. They apply a
current to the conductive material and this keeps the screen
quite warm...it also adds strength in some installations.

--

-Gord.