Flying Soon? Read this passenger briefing from the Captain of a recent flight. (1 Viewer)

[Jay Taylor]

I received this interesting e-mail describing a passenger briefing from the Captain of a recent flight & thought other forum members may want to read it.

With that, the passengers on the plane all began to applaud, people had tears in their eyes, and we began the trip toward the runway.
The flight attendant then began the safety speech. One of the things she said is that we are all so busy and live our lives at such a fast pace. She asked that everyone turn to their neighbors on either side and introduce themselves, tell each other something about your families and children, show pictures, whatever. She said "for today, we consider you family. We will treat you as such and ask that you do the same with us."
Throughout the flight we learned that for the crew, this was their first flight since Tuesday's tragedies. It was a day that everyone leaned on each other and together everyone was stronger than any one person alone.
It was quite an experience.
You can imagine the feeling when that plane touched down at Dulles and we heard "welcome to Washington Dulles Airport, where the local time is 5:40". Again, the cabin was filled with applause.

 

[Jeff Rogers]

WOW. I think they should do that on every trip. It would make me a little less tense
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If I could go back in time, I'd meet Snoopy

 

[Roby Adams]

I seriously doubt this ever happened. Sounds like another internet fabrication.
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200 and 40 dollars worth'a puddin'
My DVDs

 

[Jay Taylor]

You may be right.
It would be much more effective to just make ‘Howards End’ the in-flight movie to bring them to their knees.
Jay Taylor

 

[Ryan Wright]

I seriously doubt this ever happened. Sounds like another internet fabrication.

It's been all over the news as well. Dr. Laura broadcast it, among others. Might be true, might not be, but it should be. If you think about it, they should repeat something like that on every flight. We'd never have another successful hijacking if the flying public had the balls to beat the hell out of terrorists. If I'm ever on a plane and someone tries to take it over, I'll be the first one out of my seat. Bring it on, baby...
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

 

[Jim_C]

Well, I don't know if it's true but if it is then I applaud the captain. I love the ..."we WILL take care of them."
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[LarryDavenport]

I wonder if anyone on those planes thought to use the trays or the seat cushions as shield to rush the guys with the box cutters. I guess they probably believed it when the terrorists said they had bombs. Thank God for cell phones. Had the folks who crashed the plane in Penn not known about the WTC and the Pentagon, then the White House would probably be gone too.
They will need to update the Emergency Guide to show the passengers how to take out terrorists. They should know that under no circumstances will the pilots leave the cockpit.
I like what I heard a pilot say on CNN (or somewhere the other day). He said that all passengers should keep their seatbelts on tight, because if his plane were being hijacked, he was going to start doing barrel rolls.
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[Ashley Seymour]

How long will it take before we have the first episode of suicide by airline passengers? Suicide by cop will now become passe.
It is unfortunate how much more complex our lives have become because of 19 lower primates who hijacked those planes last week.

 

[Steve Owen]

I think the chances of that being real and not an internet hoax are approaching zero. Any commercial airline pilot who made such a speach would probably be fired. "Thank you for being brave enough to fly today" ??? I'm pretty sure that's made up.
The idea is sound though. If some whacko wanted to hijack the plane, the crew and passengers are NOT going to be passive like they might have been in the past. Anyone who stands up and starts making threats on a plane is going to get the crap kicked out of them by an angry mob.
-Steve

 

[Mitty]

I think it's highly unlikely a pilot would use the words "bomb" or "hijack" aboard an airplane. Considering that people in airports have been hauled in for questioning for making jokes about such things, it just seems ridiculous that a pilot would utter the words.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Didn't I read somewhere a few years ago that it is illegal to use the word bomb in an airport, and persons doing so may face a felony conviction? I thought I read this somewhere, but I might have dreampt it up, I dunno. Has anyone else heard this?
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[Tim Holmes]

Another strong indicator that it's fabricated is that this whipped off missive to a friend doesn't anecdotally mention some of the points of the alleged speech, but recounts it word for word as if it's being dictated or was recorded.
Not proof it didn't happen, but unlikely enough to make the assumption (along with the many other reasons) that it did not happen.
While one MAY wish this might happen in the real world (I wouldn't be one of them), it's a shame people seem bent on creating a world that doesn't exist to satisfy their ego of fooling people.
Reality is original enough for me thanks.
Tim H.

 

[Jay Taylor]

At 6:00 PM on our local NBC news affiliate the reporter interviewed Dr. Michael Hynes. He is the Continental Airlines Safety Officer. He said the airlines are considering a public awareness campaign to have passengers assist with security of the airplane, including hijackings.
During the interview they mentioned that many airline pilots are now briefing passengers about throwing blankets over the heads of hijackers & holding them down.
Perhaps the story is based in fact but may not be what the pilot said verbatim.
Concerning using the words ‘bomb’ or ‘hijack’; I could be mistaken but I believe that is a restriction placed on passengers but not the pilot.
Jay Taylor

 

[Jim_C]

Edit. I decided that my comments weren't appropriate.
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[Edited last by Jim_C on September 21, 2001 at 07:28 PM]
[Edited last by Jim_C on September 21, 2001 at 07:30 PM]

 

[Henry Carmona]

Nice speach, but i dont believe it was actually said.
As mentioned, it isnt a short speach, and i doubt anyone had a pen and paper handy to write everything down.
Its sad that this could be made up, regardless of however great it sounds.
A person from my hometown, a middle eastern man, was asked to leave the plane because the pilots didnt "feel safe" with him aboard. It finally has gotten national attention and has aired on CNN.
Also, around here, some idiots have actually stolen some US flags off of a building since flags are hard to find now.
Just sad.
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"Charlie don't surf."
[Edited last by Henry Carmona on September 21, 2001 at 08:16 PM]
[Edited last by Henry Carmona on September 21, 2001 at 08:17 PM]
[Edited last by Henry Carmona on September 21, 2001 at 08:17 PM]

 

[Phil Kim]

For whatever it's worth, I think the story has originated from Washington Times.
Here's the article
So it's probably true.

 

[Jonathan Burk]

If there are ever any more hijackings, they will likely be very different than anything we've seen before. Until 9/11/01, your chances of surviving a hijacking were excellent. Your plane would usually be routed to an out of the way airport, and you would be held for a negotiation.
But with the worldwide attention focused on 9/11/01, people are going to automatically assume they'll be crashed, and there are never enough hijackers to fight off all the male, able bodied passengers. I'm assuming the only reason the Pennsylvania flight went down is because terrorists had the controls. If the passengers had rushed them 2 minutes into the hijacking, it probably would have turned out differently.
Any potential hijacker can see this, and I don't think hijackers relish the thought of fighting off a plane full of ticked off passengers, gun or no.
So I feel sorry for anyone who was planning a hijacking, because the rules have drastically changed. Unfortunately, I have no doubt the terrorists can adapt to these changes faster than anyone else.

 

[brentl]

I think it was basically a true story with a few more liberal words thrown in for effect.
let's hope this doesn't happen again...
LL cool B

 

[Shayne Lebrun]

Snopes says it's true.
[Edited last by Shayne Lebrun on September 23, 2001 at 12:32 PM]

 

[Philip_G]

I'm not buying that a pilot would say that. Not when his brothers are being laid off.
Besides, the first officer usually makes the PAX briefings (not always, but pretty often)