World: What To Do About the Skyjackers?

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WITH renewed urgency, governments and airlines the world over sought last week to improve and refine their techniques for thwarting skyjacking. The most drastic method of protecting aircraft involves the use of armed guards. Until now, governments, airlines and pilots' associations have all generally objected to such guards on planes because they fear the consequences of a gun fight or explosion in midair. But contrary to popular myth, a pressurized cabin will not explode if punctured by one bullet or even by several; it will simply develop a slow leak. More important is the danger that passengers or crew could be shot, as well as the possibility that a stray bullet could sever hydraulic lines or other vital controls and cause the plane to crash. Last week, however, President Nixon's proposal to put sky marshals on U.S. planes received the support of Najeeb Halaby, president of Pan American World Airways, and the U.S. Air Line Pilots Association. ∙ One nation that has been willing to risk gun fights in mid-air is Israel. Its El Al airline has probably developed the most comprehensive antihijacking system in existence. Although the Israelis refuse to reveal all details, it is known that all passengers are carefully scrutinized before boarding, and all baggage is probably Xrayed. Since skyjackers forced an El Al plane to Algiers in 1968, all El Al planes have carried two to four plainclothes security men. The armed guards, who refer to themselves as the "007 Squad," are generally muscular young men, often ex-paratroopers, trained in karate. Superb marksmen, they are armed with low-velocity pistols, which are powerful enough to kill but unlikely to puncture the fuselage. It was these guards who overpowered two would-be hijackers in one of last week's attempts, killing one.

El Al planes have been strengthened on the inside to withstand grenade explosions. The cockpit is kept locked at all times, and the pilot and copilot can observe the passengers on closed-circuit television. Lavatories are inspected for time bombs each time a passenger has used them, and some planes are equipped to pump tear gas through the ventilation system to incapacitate hijackers —and passengers as well. In such an event, the crew would put on gas masks.

The Israelis' system of airborne guards has been adopted by Ethiopian Airlines, which has also been plagued by hijackers. But the Ethiopians have improvised as they went along. Earlier this year, Ethiopian guards overpowered two would-be hijackers aboard a Boeing and strapped them into seats in the nearly empty first-class compartment. After carefully wrapping the skyjackers' necks in towels to avoid bloodying the aircraft, the guards calmly cut their throats.

Apart from relying on the guards, at present there is little a pilot can do but turn on his radar beacon to inform ground control that he is in trouble. However, the Federal Aviation Administration said last week that it had developed a new secret hijacking deterrent to be installed on all new airliners and eventually on all planes. Another suggestion, reported by The Times of London, is that security guards could shoot anaesthetic bullets "as used for rhinoceros, etc."