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Read other letters about this article
I really enjoyed reading this article and the nearly 90 responses to it. It still amazes me that with so much intelligent discussion of this problem (and I'm not being facetious here), the real problem is rarely if ever addressed: how do we effect a solution that will guarantee an airplane will never again be flown into a building? The answer, like all things, lies in the movies. I'll explain.
Why don't we have onerous security regulations governing train travel? Simple: you can hijack a train, but ultimately you can't do much of anything with it other than stop it on the tracks and maybe blow it up...tragic, yes, but limited to the train itself and the several hundred or so (if that many) people on the train. What I propose is simple: put the airplanes on "tracks" too! The technology is simple: at any time an airplane's course or behavior is deemed suspicious, the cockpit controls are overridden by the closest Air Traffic Control center (obviously with appropriate authorization) and the plane put into level flight until the situation can be resolved. This technology, first pioneered in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (remember Captain Kirk uses it to take over Khan's ship) would use existing public-key strong encryption that can't be hacked or cracked without the use of parallel-processing supercomputers. These systems would be standard equipment on all aircraft (much like the infamous "black boxes"). Existing planes could be retrofitted with this technology that would be systemically integrated with the aircraft's avionics systems, and could not be compromised without destroying the plane. Once the cockpit controls have been overridden, ATC can decide whether to continue the flight or even bring the plane in for a remote landing if warranted.
Once this system is in place, we can go back to the saner pre-9/11 era when only minimal security and screening was necessary and all we complained about was the food. Sure, there will be an occasional mid-air tragedy when someone smuggles an explosive device or firearm on board, but the threat of a national tragedy on on the order of 9/11 will be neutralized.
I'm a 20-year software professional and can assure you that the technology required for this is relatively cheap, reliable, and exists today. So why aren't we pursuing it? Could it be for the same reason we don't implement a flat income tax...bureaucracies like the TSA and IRS are self-perpetuating entities that, like Keith Richards, can't be killed?
