Crew Beats Attack Back

We heard about an Air Algeria flight on Monday, that illustrated how, sometimes, the flight crew is all that's between a perfect flying experience, and disaster.

Reports are in that three men, all in their mid-20s, attempted to hijack that airliner as it was on the ground at the Algerian airport in Constantine, on a Paris-Algiers flight. They were said to have boarded at Constantine, and immediately walked into the cockpit. As one shut the (hijack-proof?) door, the other two went to work on the pilot and copilot.

The good news is, the pilot and copilot were able to outfight the three twenty-somethings; they are in jail in Algeria. The incident could have been a lot worse, had the three misfits been carrying weapons, or been more-ruthless in their attack; it could have been somewhat better (or not have been attempted), if the cockpit crew had been armed.

[This hijacking appears to be more of the 'old-fashioned, classic' hijacking, as the crew wasn't apparently supposed to be killed; it's likelier the three wanted to fly the 161 people to a destination more of their choice --ed.]

As it is, though, yet another security weakness has been exploited, and thus exposed: those hijack-proof doors could keep help out, once the bad guys get in...

FMI: www.airalgerie.dz