New threat from Al-Qaeda=Cargo planes

[blizzard]

OK, I have a question.

Suppose a plane (cargo, passenger, or otherwise) is 1)flying in restricted airspace, 2)determined to be piloted by a terrorist, and 3)bound for either a nuclear target or a populated target. If fighter jets scramble out to intercept it, how do they stop it? If they shoot it down, couldn't it still cause casualties on the ground?

And here's a disturbing thought -- what if they target a sporting event or concert? All those people (usually around 20,000 - 30,000) in one close-knit space. :o

Quite possibly could cause casualties on the ground but in these circumstances, a decision will have to be made and made fast. Do we risk the safety of a few to save many? IMO the casualties on the ground would not be too extremely severe, considering most people would have cover opportunities (I hope) I'm sure that our government and Military leaders have all these scenarios in mind and know exactly what call to make when. We have to have some faith in our military, I do and that does make me feel better about all of this. Not that I am not concerned mind you.

[streetsoldier]

Once again, let me offfer an old cop maxim..

"If someone REALLY wants to kill you, all the security in the world won't stop them."

[BEER980]

Well how was it determined that it is heading for a nuke plant or populated target? I would guess a target location would be hard to determine unless the terrorists radioed it in. Stopping it is another thing. They would attempt to communicate with it and make it known that it needs to land. If the jet refuses to comply it will be shot down. Sure you will have ground casualities but that will be fewer then the option of it hitting it's target. Welcome to the battlespace GalvestonDuck.

[cycloneye]

The best thing to do is a prayer and hope that nothing barbaric happens in the US in the same way as 9/11 did.

[GalvestonDuck]

Well how was it determined that it is heading for a nuke plant or populated target? [/b].

Just a hypothetical scenario. We wouldn't know exactly where it was going. But once it was in that restricted zone, it might be more obvious. And then action would need to be taken soon.

[nystate]

Well if you shoot down an airliner at 30,000 feet, it won't cause too much damage to people on the ground (unless it is a heavily populated city). Even if there were casualties on the ground, it would still be probably far less than there would have been if the aircraft had gone onto its target.

[azsnowman]

Come on folks, let's get pragmatic here for a second! Don't you THINK that IF they're going to DO something that they'd take out a FULL page ad to WARN US??? I mean really.......THIS kind of HYPE, PANIC is "JUST" what these SCUMBAGS want, this kinda stuff "IS" terrorism, threats etc, etc....besides, what can we DO about it?? Stay on the alert, be aware of your surroundings and make sure you know your Maker on a personnal level and pray!

Dennis

[GalvestonDuck]

Here's a thought - what if they've been working on a dirty bomb and planning an attack by cargo plane that they *think* will outdo 9/11. Maybe we don't find out about it in time when they put it into action. And then, because they never tested their dirty bombs because they didn't want us to have any intelligence on the fact that they had them, what if those dirty bombs just fizzled out as duds? Of course, our guys would still have to dispose of the bomb and that could be done safely. But I just think it would be laughable for them to plan a large-scale attack only to have it flop.

[BEER980]

Actually azsnowman they do have to warn their enemy before they attack them. The warning is one last chance to convert or die. You will sometimes hear about the "reading of wills" and that is usually done before a sucide bomb attack.