Turbulence ahead.
This story is heating up.
It was Northwest Airlines flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on 29 June 2004, departing at 12:28 p.m. If you were on that flight, please contact someone in the media like Michelle Malkin. (*) According to Malkin, it looks like NBC News and the other big media organizations are about to cover the story. Was it all innocent, or was it sinister?
Malkin talked to Annie Jacobsen, the witness.
I asked how she [Jacobsen] felt about suspicions that her story had been a hoax. She hadn’t heard of these suspicions and instead has been hearing overwhelming corroboration of her experience in thousands of e-mails, many from pilots and flight attendants reporting similar incidents.
That is not exactly comforting. It sounds like a much bigger problem than just one flight.
Glenn Reynolds has more relevant links. (†)
Steven Den Beste suggests some excellent methods of defensive fighting against hijackers in an aircraft cabin. (‡) He suggests using the seat cushion as a shield (hold it by the straps in your off-arm), and a pen for a weapon (aim for the eyes).
If you don’t have a pen, use your car or house key. Keys can be very sharp, and could also help you significantly injure the eyeball of a terrorist.
A cell phone in your hand can be used to increase the power of a punch.
You could pull the phone out of an airplane seat and bash a terrorist’s head in with that.
A laptop computer crashing over the head of a terrorist may do some good.
A power cable from a laptop may work as a garrote.
If you end up in one of these situations, you will be fighting for your life. As such, you must recognize that there are no “rules.” Whatever it takes to defeat the terrorists, do.
My original post on this subject. (§)
Update: 17 July 2004. Reynolds has yet more. (**)