Life is risk, so how can we possibly make airline flight 100% free of terrorism?

[elocs]

In the U.S. I don't believe terrorists have brought down a plane since 9/11 with their inept attempts. Outside of strip searching passengers and allowing no luggage I don't know how it would be possible to completely stop every single potential terrorist.

On our roads and highways we have tens of thousands of people lose their lives each year in spite of the fact that we have rules of the road and speed limits to make that mode of travel more safe. The speed limit could be reduced to 40 miles per hour and that would certainly save thousands of lives, but in spite of that society has deemed that they are not willing to pay the price of that kind of inconvenience even if it were to save lives.

So what lengths will we pursue to make airline travel 100% safe from terrorism? What happens while we are so concentrated on terrorism on planes if the terrorists decide to switch targets to trains or buses? Do we remember that the weapon that really brought down the 9/11 planes were box cutters, which are hardly a high tech explosive or device?

[MNDemNY]

1. Arm all of the passengers.

[leftstreet]

2. Stop creating terrorists

[babylonsister]

3. It's impossible to make air travel 100% safe imo. And you've got a

great point about various other targets. Extend that to ball games, malls, etc. There's ample opportunity unfortunately.

[elocs]

12. In this country there are tens of thousands of soft and unprotected targets.

If terrorists truly wanted to terrorize Americans they would not make them fearful of flying, but make them be afraid or worried about going to the mall or checking their mailboxes.

[DJ13]

4. Naked, drugged passengers, duct taped to their seats

[Edweird]

20. Nix the duct tape, add good music and lighting and I'd fly just for the fuck of it.

The airlines would rebound like nobodies business.

[cliffordu]

5. Close them all down

Fuck flying.

[live love laugh]

6. Let all of the planes stay on the tarmac--ground them forever. nt

[dhpgetsit]

7. Drug all the passengers and make them wear straight-jackets.

And while we are working to make life safe, we should ban all automobile traffic.

[secondwind]

8. anyone purchasing an airline ticket needs to sign a waiver that permits a complete body search

if necessary..........those who do not sign, cannot fly.

[blueworld]

9. Fly naked & ban luggage? n/t

[goldcanyonaz]

17. My MIL thinks everyone should fly naked.

[bigwillq]

10. I don't think you really can.

If someone really wants to blow up a plane or a boat or a train, they will.

[Vinnie From Indy]

11. Don't fly airplanes

The fact is that no activity is safe and no one is immune from crime, accidents or acts of God. Trashing our Constitution because *gasp* criminals do criminal things is obscenely stupid. There are dozens, if not thousands, of more dangerous things in this world that will kill you than terrorists on a plane.

[timeforpeace]

13. You can't but that doesn't mean you give up.

[elocs]

14. No, you don't give up, but you also don't go to ridiculous lengths that far exceed the risk.

Planes aren't exactly falling from the skies from terrorism despite the few inept attempts we have seen. Like I mentioned in my OP we don't seem to have a lot of problems with dealing with the risks of driving where there are tens of thousands of lives lost each year even though we could significantly cut that number by reducing the speed limit, but we don't, and won't.

[OHdem10]

15. We cannot have any flight 100% free of Terrorism. The question

should become what is our tolerance. Did you hear that
loud noise--that was the GOP in a spasm over just what
I said.

Do we want to become like Israel???

[RC]

16. Why has no one thought of the obvous?

Psychological test for all passengers.
As things stand now, if they are white European they are deemed to have mental problems. If darker complected, the are labeled terrorist. this distention has to stop.

[a la izquierda]

30. I'd fail a psychological test for flying...

I hate it.

[The Straight Story]

18. Well, we banned smoking in bars, and saved us all - we can do this too

:rofl:

[Thickasabrick]

25. Yeah....but that just made them fat and so....that's killing em. nt

[defendandprotect]

19. In order to make the world safe for humanity and peace, we have to identify

the true terrorists --

and that would be the US ... according to the United Nations

and Bush/Cheney re 9/11 MIHOP --

[Edweird]

21. You can't.

[HopeHoops]

22. Ban all air travel.

[TheKentuckian]

23. No passengers?

There is no such thing as fool proof.

[elocs]

24. My question was really rhetorical because even Obama has said you cannot stop 100%

of potential terrorism on airplanes. There is a line where passengers just won't put up with any more hoops to jump through when the ones they have are not working perfectly anyways. Nothing is foolproof but there is a problem when there are fools in charge or who get complacent about their duties. Somebody should really be looking for different work after this latest fiasco. I hope Obama makes sure somebody gets their ass kicked over it.

There may be things of which to be afraid in this country, but being killed on an airplane because of a terrorist attack should rank really, really low, probably behind being struck by lightning. When I make a 500 mile round trip to Chicago I am probably at spectacularly greater risk than I would be from any terrorist act on an airplane.

[flvegan]

26. Chloroform everyone, stack them like baggage.

Revive only after the plane has reached the terminal. Better yet, deliver them into the baggage claim WITH the baggage via the belt set up.

[IndianaGreen]

27. El Al has a great safety record

What are the Israelis doing that we ought to learn?

[elocs]

31. Considering the the success rate of airline terrorism in recent years

you'd think we would learn not to live in fear.

[TexasObserver]

28. We cannot overreact to terror attacks, no matter what they are.

The horror of the past 8 years has not been the terror attacks, but the way we've reacted disasterously to them. We would be better off today if we had not done any of the things we changed after 9-11. The Patriot Act. The domestic spying. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The establishment of Homeland Security. The widespread use of spying on political opponents by all manner of police at all levels, civilian and military.

We have wasted trillions of dollars overreacting to terror.

It's a risk. We minimize it, and every once in a while, just as a big airplane goes down because Mega Corp Airlines doesn't maintain its aircraft or doesn't regulate its pilots closely enough, we will lose some people to some terror event.

Giving up our basic rights, traveling in constant fear, attacking others and calling it "defense," - these are things that erode us faster than any terror attack.

[amborin]

29. how can we make our food supply safe from salmonella? and e coli? and industrial agriculture?