Two Raf Typhoons Escort Ryanair Plane To Stansted.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4947352/Fighters-scrambled-escort-Ryanair-plane-Stansted.html

[New Judge]

"Stansted is the bomb scare/hijack airport of choice"

Yes it is. They have "facilities" there which enable the security authorities to tackle such problems more readily.

[anotheoldgit]

Sqad

Here is one example, there are others on the internet.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1340788/Bush-ordered-airliner-to-be-shot-down.html

/// Officials believed the plane, which crashed with the loss of all those on board, was heading for Washington and either the White House or the Capitol. Two planes had already crashed into the World Trade Centre, while a third had devastated part of the
Pentagon. ///

/// "The President made the decision," said Mr Cheney. "That if the plane would not divert, if they wouldn't pay any attention to instructions to move away from the city, as a last resort our pilots were authorised to take them out." ///

[Islay]

Boom Chilldoubt!

[Sqad]

AOG...well there you go.........so although not taken lightly, in extreme circumstances a civilian aircraft may be "taken out."

[anotheoldgit]

In England, the Guardian reported that “Tony Blair has moved F3 Tornado
fighter jets closer to London in order to blow out of the sky any hijacked aeroplanes
which threaten to crash on the capital ... Blair and Bush have given notice that they
may have to murder innocent citizens in the cause of a greater good.”

[Bazile]

What a decision to have to make .

What if you have an air bus with 800+ passengers .
How do you make a decision to shoot it down with the loss of 800 + lives as opposed to let it crash into a building with x number of people inside ?

[Sqad]

Bazile.....indeed.

I am glad that I will never be in that position to have to decide.

[anotheoldgit]

Bazile

The times we now live in, the times we now live in.

[Islay]

Baz I suppose with the blast radius and fuel spillage plus debris range its possible that if it crashed London City that it would take out far more that 800 that were on the plane!

[anotheoldgit]

Sqad
Yes but the frightening thing is that whilst those in command make the decisions, it is left to a few (in this case a RAF pilot) to carry them out.

"I was only obeying orders"

[Bazile]

indeed aog .

If your'e a military person you accept that you may have to do things that will result in loss of lives in a war theatre .

But how on earth could a pilot come to terms , with having to kill 800 innocent civilians on a plane .

[Prudie]

"What if you have an air bus with 800+ passengers .
How do you make a decision to shoot it down with the loss of 800 + lives as opposed to let it crash into a building with x number of people inside ?"

Has been the subject of several Hollywood movies (Turbulence and Executive Decision for example). Luckily in films some heroes save the day at the last minute.

[anotheoldgit]

Bazile

Bomber pilots and their crews carried out such carnage almost on a daily and nightly basis during WW2.

Then it was quite acceptable but these days if innocent civilians are hurt in anyway we approach the matter quite differently.

[Baldric]

///But how on earth could a pilot come to terms , with having to kill 800 innocent civilians on a plane///

From the 1233 link

//The same pilots have even been given special psychological training to cope with the enormity of what they may be ordered to do.//

[EDDIE51]

Zebo . Stansted is designated as the UK airport that handles any sort of security threat to an aircraft. Any plane in UK airspace that has any kind of security threat is diverted to Stansted. Even if it was heading to Aberdeen it would have been diverted to Stansted as soon as the threat was detected.

[Islay]

AOG you should try looking in the mirror occasionally!! You were extremely rude to a couple of us earlier!